Volume 2 / Chapter 13 / The Desire of the Shield
Naofumi was already sprinting, having a pale colour covering his face. Leaping down the flight of stairs and missing a step, he staggered back to his top speed and rushed out to the back of the building. On the way, he crossed with Erhart and accidentally bumped right into him. The blacksmith dropped some of the weapons he was bringing out to display and turned to the hero in confusion.
"Hey! What's—!?"
That was all Naofumi heard before rushing out to the back. Raphtalia was chasing after him and she stopped to help Erhart pick up the weapons, albeit it was in a hasty manner. She was almost about to leave with nothing being said until Erhart reached out.
"Hold up! Tell me why the Shield Kid looks terrible! What happened up there!? You two better not have started a fire or anything like that!"
"N-No, it's Mister Itsuki! He's not in his room and Master Naofumi is scared he might be doing something reckless and dangerous!"
"Oh? Is that right?" Erhart metaphorically released Raphtalia. "Don't give me the details. I'm sure you can tell me all about it later. Good luck on bringing him back."
"Right. Thank you, Mister Erhart!" Raphtalia nodded and turned to sprint after her master, but at the door, she shouted one last thing. "Oh! The food's on the table if we don't come back soon! Be sure to enjoy it!"
With a loud shut, Erhart was left to deal with the storm that blasted right by his shoulder, but he had to hold a heavy sigh for them. Whatever might have been happening, he hoped that every would go well for them. It was like everytime they returned to his blacksmith, there was always something new that made it seem like the world was against them, being one thing after the other.
They definitely weren't up to that task of taking on those challenges, but in their defense, Erhart didn't think anyone would have been able to stand up in their position. Luck may have been wished upon anyone who was in their situation, but what Erhart really meant by that—
"Stay safe, all of you."
Something told him that they weren't coming back for dinner together.
-/IV/-
Naofumi didn't think. Naofumi couldn't breathe.
Nevertheless, he ran down the dark alleyways, trying to figure out the destination of his rushed travels. Now that he thought about it, he didn't even know where the Church of the Three Heroes was, but he was certain he'll be able to find it if the religious building was similar to those of his world. One could typically see the religion's symbol be holstered up above its site, but the tall walls refused to cooperate with him.
He would have to go out onto the main streets, but that in itself was filled with risk. Even when the sun is settling in, it would be all over once someone comes close enough to suspect Naofumi's identity. Even so, it was likely the only option he had to track Itsuki down.
Naofumi could only hope that he wasn't too far behind from Itsuki's departure.
"Whoa, whoa. Where are you off to in such a hurry?"
Turning the corner, a voice came down from the path. Zellus was leaning against a wall with his hands in his pockets and even with his mysterious appearance here, Naofumi made a split decision. He could have stopped to see what the knight wanted, but he chose to ignore him.
Itsuki was more important and he ran past the knight without another thought.
He would have made it further if Zellus didn't move quickly to grab his collar and tug the Shield Hero backwards with overbearing force. Falling onto the ground, he tried to get back up, but he was met with a sudden kick. If he hadn't blocked with the shield in time, he knew he would have suffered some painful bruises. However, the impact still slid him backwards a few meters.
"Master Naofumi!" Raphtalia caught up with the hero and upon seeing the aggression, she immediately pulled out her sword. She must have already noticed that it was Zellus, but she instinctively leapt forwards for an attack. "We have somewhere important to do! Please move!"
Zellus caught the blade in his gloved hands, stopping its momentum.
"As much as I would love to fight right now, all I wanted to know was where you two were running off to with such speed! Don't be so hasty!" The knight pulled Raphtalia inwards and chopped her hand, causing her to let go of the sword. That opening allowed Zellus to kick her down right next to her master. "You would make for a boring fight anyways, so you might as well satisfy me some other method."
Zellus sighed, throwing her sword right next to its owner.
It didn't look like Raphtalia suffered any injuries from the quick shuffle, but he still had to check on her. After confirming that she was able to get on her feet without any problems, Naofumi turned to the knight who returned his hands to his pocket. It seemed like Zellus was still dangerous, even without drawing his weapon.
"If you really want to know," Naofumi growled, "Itsuki ran away. Despite my attempt to talk him down from it, I think he ran off to the Church of Three Heroes in order to assassinate the pope there. If you wanted all three of us to stop Motoyasu and Ren, you're going to have to help us out here."
To be honest, it was probably his best bet to rely on Zellus on guiding them over. He didn't like the idea, but Zellus has shown that despite his attitude, he clearly wasn't playing on the side of the knights. They would have been behind bars by now, so he thought it would be a good idea to try and coerce him.
However, Zellus demonstrated more flexibility than Naofumi expected.
"Nah, I don't think I'll help out there."
"You're kidding me, right!?"
"Oh? I did say that you could call me whatever you want, but they won't change what I need to do. I came for another matter and I hope you have an idea of what it could be already."
"You came over to pick us up?" Raphtalia asked, picking up her sword.
"The time has come. I'm not a big fan of waiting around, so just come with me and we'll—"
Zellus stopped talking altogether, causing Naofumi to wonder what was wrong. However, it took a few seconds of silence for his heart to skip a beat. The knight suddenly smirked, having both ends of his mouth curl upwards like a creature from a nightmare.
"Actually, I'm feeling generous, but I'm also rather curious."
Zellus held out his arms as if they were two ends of a scale. His tone sounded like he was trying to hold back his own laughter, but it held a type of dark animosity behind it.
"Instead, I'm going to give you a choice of what you want to do. Your first option is to come with me to help out Motoyasu and Ren, but in the process, you won't have any opportunities to search for Itsuki. Your second option? I tell you where the Church is. I tell you how you can get in without getting noticed. I tell you everything you need to know to make you hunt for the Bow Hero successful, but you will miss your only chance to meet Motoyasu and Ren."
Naofumi's eyes widened. "You're making me choose?"
"Of course. It's your time, after all. Who am I to make you waste your time on something you don't want to do? You also have the choice of not playing my little game here, but we both know that won't end up well for you."
"Bastard…!"
Naofumi gritted through his teeth. Zellus seemed to be showing more and more of his true colours as time went on, but he wasn't what the reason may have been. Could it be that he was showing his hand, already thinking that he had the pot in his bag? Whatever the reason, it was making Naofumi more agitated by the passing seconds.
"I'm not sure why you're getting angry at me," he whimsically shrugged. "All I'm doing is giving you more options than you could ever hope to have by yourself. What else would you have done without my assistance here?"
"Still though, making Master Naofumi choose like that is terrible!"
"Sometimes, you'll be forced to make difficult decisions and with other ways out of it. Sacrifices will be made in order to press onwards, so you shouldn't be blaming me for everything here. If anything, I'm the good guy, giving better chances of success to the option that Naofumi does choose."
"I don't care!" Naofumi shouted. "I'm going to help both of them! Get out of my way, Zellus!"
Naofumi took a single step, but one motion to hold a sword was all it took for his steps to cease counting upwards. Zellus narrowed his eyes at the hero with disapproval.
"That's not how this game works. That's not how any of this works. Although I expected you to refuse the existence of the decision in the first place, that doesn't change the fact that if you decide to extend your hand to everyone, no one is going to be saved. I can promise you that much, as much as my words mean to you anymore."
Naofumi felt torn, having it be laid out so cleanly for him. He valued Ren, Motoyasu and Itsuki all together as one package, so forcing him to choose one over the other felt impossible to him. He couldn't imagine what would happen to one side if he picked the other and frankly, he didn't want to imagine it.
With a defeated expression, he couldn't choose. He knew if he had an hour to debate it, he still wouldn't have an answer to take without feeling his guilt overcome him; it was very bad, considering that he probably had a few minutes right now to make his choice.
However, Zellus groaned after a while.
"We're not going anywhere with this, are we? You're making a slower choice than I expected, so I'll give you a freebie here. I suggest you come with me and head out to find Ren and Motoyasu."
"I'm not going to leave Itsuki to get himself into unnecessary risk like that!"
"He's not in any danger. I should probably start with that beforehand, shouldn't I?"
"Mister Itsuki isn't in danger? He's heading to the Church! How could he not be!?"
"Because he's not going to find what he's trying to look for there." Zellus turned his back to Naofumi and Raphtalia and started to walk away. The pair looked at each other before pursuing away the knight. "You said that he was hunting for the pope's head, right? Lucky for you, I forgot to mention the reason for the king's isolation. It's because he's meeting with the pope at the castle, so in order words, he's not there."
"Wait, but what about the holy knights!?"
"I'm guessing he'll be playing safe and try to avoid confrontation. He'll have an easier time, especially considering that some of the stronger holy knights have been dispatched to either move with the pope or… Well, you might have already known the other half of that story, don't you?"
Naofumi realized Zellus was implying the encounter at Riyute Village. He was surprised to hear that those knights haven't returned yet, but in this case, it felt like Itsuki dodged a bullet there. Or had that been a part of his thought process? Naofumi could only hope there was some rational analysis, if any, through that decision of his.
"Their defenses are pretty thin right now, so Itsuki picked a good time to go and sweep the place."
"Then we'll go grab Itsuki and quickly make our way over to—"
"No, that wouldn't work."
"What's the problem now!?"
"Well, we wasted too much time here already, especially if you consider that the Church of Three Heroes is away from the direction of the Church from here." A playful smile followed, nudging the hero that this distraction was fully intentional. "We're already running late as it is. My preparations haven't been fully completed yet, but it's more convenient to have you on hand before advancing."
He must have ran his mouth to run the clock.
Naofumi found himself clenching his fist out of frustration. Never once did he want to punch someone so badly before, but he especially didn't want this heated feeling to become a habit. For once, he was glad he couldn't attack because if he could, he would have already thrown out an attack. That inability held him back.
"We don't actually have a real choice in the matter, do we?"
"And that's the trap. At the very least, I supposed it's part of it," Zellus chuckled. "Once you're in, there's no heading out. If it makes you feel any better, I expect that Itsuki will find out the truth and we'll eventually see him at the castle soon or later. I'll put my money on that."
Naofumi didn't like it.
He didn't like how they were being led at the palm of Zellus' hand, but what else could he have done? Without context, Zellus' offer was truly what he said it was; it was something that Naofumi could have used to be able to get one thing finished up here, but with how malicious and ominous his underlying messages could be, he couldn't help to hate himself for being led like this.
His hand was shaking, but Raphtalia reached for it unexpectedly. It caused it to stop as he glanced over to the demi-human. "I'm here at your side, Master Naofumi. I want to help Mister Ren, Mister Itsuki, and if he's the same as them, Mister Motoyasu as well. You're not alone in this."
Dependency on someone he could truly trust was what he probably needed the most.
With a thankful smile, he continued following Zellus with Raphtalia.
"Make this quick, Zellus. No matter what you might have up your sleeve, I'm going to save my friends."
"Don't worry. I'm counting on it, o'Great Shield Hero."
-/IV/-
The church was empty. Barely any knights were stationed here and the nuns who were present mainly kept to the ground floor rather than anywhere else. From the sounds coming from the main hall, there was likely some ceremony happening that caused all of the other locations to be filled with echoes and nothing else. It might have held an eerie atmosphere, but Itsuki counted this as great luck.
With his hood covering most of his facial features, he was able to walk right into the front entrance without any problems. When no one was looking, he snuck down into the staircase going downwards, taking the wild guess that if the pope's office was going to be anywhere, it was going to be in the depths of the building.
He managed to copy the [Night Bow] back at Erhart's place, so using that gave him a stealth bonus to his movements. It was passable enough that the few present knights weren't able to detect him, letting Itsuki slide right through without any trouble. Though, he hoped he had the convenience of accidentally coming into information that might help him out like the last two times.
He wasn't as lucky this time around. None of the knights standing on duty had the need to talk mindlessly about things that might help him out down the road.
Coming to one of the bigger doors, he could smell the aftermath of smoke. It was ingrained into wood, giving it the oddly distinct scent, but considering what he was looking for, it must not have been behind that. There was even some tape to warn folks to not enter, but being such a giant door, Itsuki's curiosity was starting to grow.
It was not strong enough to deter him from his objective though.
He knew that Naofumi was going to be frustrated with what he was doing. He knew that leaving at such a pivotal moment might end up biting everyone in the ass, but if he wasn't going to do it now, he might not have another chance to do it.
Itsuki wanted the leader of the Church of Three Heroes dead. Itsuki wanted the organization that was hunting him down, the organization that blindly discriminated against his friend, the organization that killed his trusted ally - he wanted them to be in complete shambles. He wanted them to have their karmic justice, even if that karma was coming from his own hands—
—no. It had to come from his own hands.
Justice wasn't going to happen if he waited.
That's why he had to do this, entrusting the issue surrounding Ren and Motoyasu to Naofumi and Raphtalia. He only hoped that Zellus didn't stab them in the back like how he did for Ren, but considering that at the moment, he started to worry.
Maybe he didn't think this through well enough.
No, he did.
He even gave the assumption that the holy knights at Riyute Village weren't back yet. He was already this far anyways, so it would be a shame to abandon it halfway through. Naofumi and Raphtalia had each other's backs, and if Zellus was planning to do something anyways, his state of being there for them wouldn't have changed much.
If that was the case, why couldn't he take another step?
"Damn it… Why am I having doubts now?"
Down the hallway, he heard footsteps coming towards him, so without much thought he ran into the nearby room and shut the door behind him. Thankfully, it wasn't entirely closed to begin with, so there was no need to push it back all the way and risk making a sound.
As he listened for the knights to walk by, he decided to look over his shoulder to see what type of room he was hiding out in. Needless to say, he was a bit surprised about what happened here.
It wasn't difficult to tell that it was a library, even with what little light was provided by the chandelier and candle stands scattered throughout to make basic pathways. However, it was all under a major cleaning stage with all the burnt furniture and books littered around the room with piles of ashes being rounded up in a few corners.
Nevertheless, this place seemed familiar, but he couldn't tell where he remembered it from.
Itsuki knew he shouldn't concern himself with such nonsense, but when he turned around to move back in hunting for the pope, there was a footstep coming from inside of the room. He froze up, thinking he was exposed, but when he turned back to see who it was, he was met with a familiar face.
It was that white-haired girl that showed up in the garden, the same to show up when Ren had apparently been in dire trouble. She stood in the center, almost basking in her own light like an angel, but with her back facing towards him, it was as if it was an invitation to come closer.
Even so, it was still a mere invitation. He could decline it if he wanted to, but he found his feet moving forwards without any second thoughts. It was as if he was being pulled there by an invisible force and not before long, he was merely a few meters away from her.
Her head turned, but not by much.
"Are you sure this is the decision you wish to take?"
"Who the hell do you think you are to be able to judge like that?" Like his feet, he found his words started moving out themselves. "You're the one to bring us here to this nightmare of a world! My friends and I were completely happy with living our lives back at home, but none of us asked to be dragged into a situation like this!"
"This situation did not reveal itself as you expect it to have been. The error comes from the acts of humanity and the emotions that drive what they have done to you. However, there is something my late master would say in situations such as these ones. That is, it is imperative that you must believe."
"Believe? Are you kidding me!?" Itsuki would have laughed if it weren't some sick joke. "Two of my friends are labelled as criminals! I'm being forced to run away from an organization that doesn't bat an eye to cruel slavery! My ally died right in front of me! I'm surprised that I haven't lost it yet!"
And yet, why hasn't he gone off the deep end? There was always that looming voice that wanted for him to lose control. It felt like that onslaught of emotions could have completely destroyed him, but he remembered the comfort and concern, regardless if it actually worked or not, that Naofumi gave to him. Surely, that might have been the thing that kicked him just out of reach of that breaking point.
"That's why I'm going to end one of our problems. I'm going to kill the pope, once and for all."
"And I shall ask once more. Are you sure that this is the decision you wish to take?"
"Why are you asking me that anyways?"
"I have the hypothesis that you are not in the right state to make the decision you believe in and that is an issue to my research. I cannot allow the observations to go awry from something that can be seen clearly, given some time and peace of mind."
"What do you mean by that? Are you saying I don't actually want to kill the pope!?"
"You have hesitations. Despite your desire to fulfill your chosen decision, you waver once the gravity of the situation falls on your shoulders and instead of accepting it, you make attempts to push it away."
"What makes you say that? You don't know me at all! You don't have the right to say anything!"
"Then why do you feel the need to stay here and explain yourself? If you truly believe you are taking the best course of action, one that you will not regret, you are free to depart at any time. I do not have the ability to stop you. Nevertheless, you remain here in the attempts to break shackles off your decision, one that you cannot escape from. Is that not correct?"
Itsuki tensed up, suddenly feeling his chest get tighter. With that note, he wanted to turn around and abandon the conversation. She gave him the exit route that snapped him out from his brash emotions, but in doing so, he couldn't find any movements in his feet.
Was she correct? Had he some lingering regrets about what he was doing?
He told himself that he had to do it. If Ren was firm enough to want to kill the king for his own reasons, whether for himself or for all of them, Itsuki knew that he had to replicate that same strength and perseverance. It wasn't wrong to do this, especially if Ren had been basically doing the same thing as him. That's what Itsuki kept telling himself, after learning of such a fact.
"Shackles of a decision…?"
He backed off because Naofumi wanted him to.
He continued because he learned that Ren was doing it as well.
Was this truly his own decision?
What did he truly want? What did Itsuki Kawasumi want to do?
Even in the present, he finally found himself being dragged around. Throughout his life, he had only known that feeling, but the only difference was that he didn't mind those who took his hand and pulled him forwards, rather than those who tried to push him backwards. Regardless, he realized that he never took any steps for himself.
Even that idea of justice guided his path, choosing for him to be angry at the slaves and fighting back against the Church - all in the name of righteous and idealistic justice. It was something that he wanted to do, one that he knew he couldn't turn away from, but he never saw it as a decision of himself, but a decision of justice. With all those forces tugging him around, he never had the opportunity to sit down and ask what he himself truly wanted.
"I want the pope to be dead… I want this entire Church to fall for what they did to us…"
What exactly was justice to begin with?
What was the justice that he was trying to follow, the one that he allowed to control him?
"But it is your bonds with your friends that prevent you from moving on once you realized it," the girl spoke softly. "There is still the opportunity to turn back. There is the opportunity to decide what is more important and what will allow you to head into the future with a heart less unburdened."
"I…"
"I foretold you this already - that your destiny is not what it seemed in this world, but it is your actions of you and your friends that will produce what future you shall walk. There is strength in friendship, one that can overcome fate itself."
"I… I don't…"
"And so, I shall ask once more. What is your decision, Itsuki Kawasumi?"
-/IV/-
There was a hidden underground entrance to the castle that Zellus knew about. It was covered up with magic in order to protect itself from possible intruders in using it to gain access to the castle, so it didn't look like anything else other than a wall. Even knocking on it would produce similar feelings on the knuckles and a sound one might expect from such an action, but it took one attack from one of Zellus' daggers to destroy it.
It revealed a normal building and inside, one of the walls looked to have been preemptively removed to reveal a secret passageway downwards. Zellus said that the city was basically filled with these types of emergency access points and there were a few more scattered around the city like this. Though, it certainly made Naofumi skeptical as to how Itsuki would be able to find his way in like this.
With a lengthy distance to cover and some winding stairs to climb back up, Zellus finally brought them into a room that looked like a storage and armour were neatly spread around, easily being able to see the collection of spears, swords and bows that they had in stock. However, he distinctly noticed that it was the weapons of the Cardinal Heroes, and yet, there was no shield.
Come to think of it, he hadn't seen a single knight use a shield.
Come to think of it, the only other shields he had seen in this world was with Erhart's store.
"Grab a few of the weapons. We'll need what we can take later on."
"I can't use weapons. The Holy Shield won't let me."
"And did I say for you to be the one to fight? No, so don't put words in my mouth," Zellus grunted. "I'm only asking you to hold onto the weapons until we need them again."
Naofumi wasn't sure what Zellus was up to, but he did as told. He was able to dump a good portion of the weapons into his item box, but he could have sworn he noticed Zellus taking a few of them to help, but when he turned back to him, he wasn't holding anything.
It must have been his imagination.
"We'll be heading down deeper into the depths of the castle's underground. We'll just have to get through some barriers first and foremost, but you don't have to worry about that for yourself."
"Aren't you scared that we might come across some knights on duty?"
"If we take the normal route, we would obviously cross paths with them."
He beckoned Naofumi and Raphtalia to head out into the hallway to see that they were in the normal castle hallways. No knights were seen in the distance, but Zellus walked over to a particular statue and held onto the sword that it had in its hand.
"Uh, come closer? Trying to remember where this damn thing opens up." Naofumi and Raphtalia stole glances at each other before taking a few steps forward. "I think you can stop there? I guess I should have tested it out beforehand, but whatever. By the way, hold on tight."
"Huh? Hold on tight?" Naofumi asked. "For wha—?"
The moment Zellus pulled on the sword, the floor underneath them opened up to a bottomless pit. It felt like for a second he was floating until gravity took its precedent in the driver's seat, dragging them both downwards with a scream in its ambience.
The light from the castle hallway was escaping quickly, but he grabbed onto Raphtalia instinctively in the air. He wondered if [Air Strike Shield] could break their fall, but they already crossed enough vertical distance that it would still hurt like hell. Nevertheless, he kept Raphtalia in his arms while bringing up his shield downwards.
"[Air Strike—]!"
"Don't worry. You don't need to do that."
For a glimpse, Zellus' body dove down faster than they were going. His eyes couldn't keep up with the knight's velocity, but he drew his katana and stabbed it right into the wall. Honestly, he definitely thought the sword was going to break from how it looked, but it surprisingly held up.
As Naofumi and Raphtalia crossed him once again, he jumped off the wall to catch them and drive themselves into the parallel wall. Zellus used his own body to break it down and they soon found themselves in one of the lower levels of the castle.
However, it was immediately clear where they were.
"This is… the dungeons? A prison of some kind?"
"You got it. The knights keep prisoners underneath the castle with constant security on them to make sure they aren't up to any tricks. This is what we're going to be using to buy you guys some time to meet up with Ren."
"We're going to be using the prison? How?"
"Not the prison itself, no." Zellus kept his katana out as he walked down the dreary hallways. "First, I need to introduce you to someone. Unlike me, she'll be someone you can trust."
"I'm not sure I can take your words as something I can trust."
"You can make your own judgement after meeting her. She's been waiting an awfully long time to get some presence on the main stage, you know. It would be terrible if we were to ignore her, now that we got this far. Don't you think so, Naofumi?"
He didn't bother answering the question. He simply kept in mind of their surroundings, taking it all in for himself. It was rather dark, even with the few torches here and there, but it was enough that he could see some of the prisoners glaring at their passing. They all tried to grab their attention, but instead of walking onwards, Zellus turned to them and drew his sword.
He broke the cell doors into pieces and threw out another attack at their restraints. Even they looked surprised, but Zellus asked Naofumi to give him a weapon. In doing so, he threw it over to the prisoner.
"The Shield Hero and I are starting a prison break. Find yourself some allies to pair up with if you want to make it out alive. Otherwise, you're on your own."
He repeated the same pattern for every prisoner they crossed and they all ran out in order to start their siege up above the prison grounds. Naofumi quickly came to realize that this was the distraction that he was talking about and he lost count after the twentieth prisoner they freed.
He didn't know how to feel about cooperating in a real crime this time, but his attitude shifted when they came to a certain cell at a dead end and stopped in front of it. Spinning his katana, Zellus didn't hesitate to cut down the metal bars into an entrance into the room. Inside, there had been a woman with strawberry-blonde hair and blue eyes. Her clothes were ragged and her arms were tied with chains, connected to the back wall.
She peered upwards to see them.
"So you really weren't kidding, Sir Zellus. No, I should have been more confident that you would do something as insane as this." She swapped her attention to the Naofumi, but to be more precise, the shield on his arm. "This is the Shield Hero?"
"Naofumi, Raphtalia? Meet Eclair." Zellus took the introductions to slash the chains to free her. "She's a former knight of Melromarc."
The hero frowned when he heard his introduction. If she was a former knight, she must have done something that crossed the line of knighthood to have ended up in this damp place.
"She'll be helping you out with this entire problem at hand. I still don't believe that you'll be able to beat Ren in the state that he is right now, so you'll have to depend on her strength to clutch out a victory."
Eclair rolled her wrist, feeling freedom of moving it around properly. It didn't feel like she had much energy left, causing Naofumi to wonder how long she was in the prisons for. He wanted to ask more about it, but Eclair moved the conversation onwards.
"It's a pleasure to meet you, Sir Shield Hero. If this were to be any other circumstances I would be delighted to be in your presence. However, I feel as if you do not wish to be here either."
She sounded genuine in her grief. It seemed entirely possible that, like him and Itsuki, she was being dragged into the situation without her consent but the only other option seemed to be to continue rotting away in this cell.
"Likewise. My name's Naofumi and this is Raphtalia."
"Sir Naofumi and Lady Raphtalia, was it? At this point, we'll be working together."
"I hope so," Raphtalia nodded.
"Let's give her some privacy. She can't be fighting in that state."
Almost as if he pulled them out of his sleeve, he had a fresh set of clothes paired with a rapier. Naofumi had no idea where it came from. The latter must have been her choice of weapon on the battlefield and seeing the former, Naofumi turned his head and moved away to give her the respect to change. Zellus stepped out to do the same.
"Master Naofumi. Please don't peek."
"I-I'm not! Do you really think I would do that!?"
"Just… I'm just making sure."
It took a few minutes for Eclair to finish up, but she had more of an appearance to a noble swordswoman than a knight. It was probably the red gem on the chest that helped push that idea.
"Before our encounter, I've already been updated on what was going to happen. I'm prepared to lend you assistance, but I also need to meet with the king afterwards. With everything that's happened to the Cardinal Heroes so far, I need to know the truth, regardless if my punishment increases upon my return."
"You're going to come back once you're done?" Naofumi found it shocking that she would be so dedicated to the laws of this land as a knight, even after becoming a prisoner.
Eclair shook her head. "The king is not the one who governs this land. Melromarc is a matriarchy, so although the king is looking over it for the moment, it is the queen who has full control of the country. If she approves of how the king desires the punishment, I will accept it."
Speaking of which, he had never actually seen the queen at all.
"Wait, then where is the queen anyways?"
"She's not present in the country right now. She was supposed to be heading off to a conference after we saw the effects of the first wave of destruction and there was supposed to be a discussion with the other countries about the summoning of the Cardinal Heroes. However, it seems like the king went through with the decision to summon all of the Cardinal Heroes in Melromarc."
"Yep, the queen's in the hot seat right now!" Zellus added in. "Do you know how much she's trying to cover the king's ass for pulling off such a crazy move?"
"The queen is certainly in dire trouble, even with her famed silver tongue. The Cardinal Heroes were supposed to be divided for four countries, but with how it ended up, I can't imagine the political nightmare she would be having. It's not surprising she has not returned yet."
"Do we even want the queen to come back? If it brings more trouble, then—"
"I believe that the queen will hear you out and fix all that have been wronged onto you. Though, I'm certainly surprised that Lord Aldrecht allowed such a thing to happen in the first place. I took the king for someone who would cross paths with the Shield Hero, and those who support him, like this. However, I did not hold in my confusion when I found Lord Aldrecht to be cooperating with this plan."
"So Aldrecht really is against us as well?"
It was suggested, but considering how he was acting in his trial, he wanted to doubt that belief. Aldrecht actually seemed to want to help out, but he didn't know much of the old man. It was entirely possible it was all an act to begin with.
Naofumi really despised thinking in such a way.
"Anyways, that's enough distracting ourselves for now. You can drop the weapons here and I'll take care of the rest. Your group can start hunting for the Sword Hero, but keep wary of knight patrol groups and skirmish that occur up above."
"Wait, weapons?"
Eclair raised an eyebrow as Naofumi complied, dropping all of the swords, spears and bows onto the ground in front of him. He wasn't sure how the knight was going to carry all of that around, but Zellus showed no concern of that.
"Why are there weapons here?" Eclair asked. Naofumi thought she wasn't knowledgeable about the item box, but the tone of her voice said differently as she continued. "What are you planning on doing, Sir Zellus!?"
"Isn't it obvious? You can't conjure up a distraction out from nothing, Eclair. We're in the middle of freeing the prisoners in order to give the Shield and the Spear Hero time to deal with the Sword Hero. They'll be the distraction for the plan, but without providing weapons, it wouldn't even last too long. It's like leading lambs to a slaughter, so we'll give them some help in buying more time."
"You can't possibly do that!" Eclair threw her hand on her sword angrily. "You'll put the castle and the capital into chaos if you keep this up! Even if I'm stripped of my knighthood, I cannot allow you to progress this any further!"
"Oh? And do you have any better ideas?" He swung his katana playfully to rest on his shoulder. "If so, I would love to hear more about it, preferably in the next few minutes. The prisoners are probably waiting for a bigger number to be able to outmatch the knights or alternatively, they're trying to break out other prisoners in the meantime."
"You're insane! How do you have no remorse or guilt for what you're doing!?"
Her rapier was drawn out very quickly, but Zellus didn't flinch, even as the blade's tip pointed to his neck. All the knight did was smirk, almost arrogantly as if he was standing on high ground.
"Does it matter what my answer to that question would be? If I were you, I wouldn't be wasting my breath on such trivial matters that can't be changed now. You should help out Naofumi before the Cardinal Heroes suffer their losses. It's quite the dire situation, if you choose to abandon your assistance."
Eclair clicked her tongue and retreated her blade.
"You should worry more about what truths you need to learn about rather than what I'm doing. Set your priorities straight, Eclair. Maybe your time in the prisons have swirled that steadfast attitude of yours."
Naofumi was starting to feel bad for the former knight. It sincerely felt like she was roped into this as much as he was, but it must have hurt more to be forced to overlook such actions underneath her nose. This former knight must have been trained with honour by her side, but that's deeply reflected with the cruelness of the one who remains in the order.
He lowered himself to grab a few of the dropped weapons and walked off.
"It's going to be your best chance to wait for a few moments after the prison break truly begins. I'm sure Eclair knows that there's a secret second passage that leads to the other side of the castle, so make the best of that. I'm going to finish up what I promised to do."
With nothing else to say, Zellus walked off, leaving Naofumi and Raphtalia with his apparent replacement to the party. It felt a bit awkward to say anything to her, but Raphtalia came in to help on that end.
"Are you feeling alright, Miss Eclair?"
"I should have expected such an outcome from Sir Zellus." She sighed, sheathing her rapier. "This must be what the knights spoke of when they said that he is to not be trusted, despite being able to rely on him. I hoped that his conceited attitude was merely for show."
She grimaced, keeping her hand on the blade's handle before she turned to them.
"As much as I dislike how Sir Zellus is doing things, it is not as if we have other options. I was informed about your situation by Sir Zellus, so please allow me to confirm some details. You must have realized that I don't have the luxury to be blindly believing in what he says."
"Yeah, I can see that," Naofumi nodded.
Eclair wanted him to speak about what was happening to the cardinal Heroes and Naofumi gladly answered her. He told her about the circumstances of his own trial, what happened to Ren and his trial and especially what happened to Itsuki. Simply by listening, she already felt defeated in how deep the hole was, even going as far as bowing her head without being the source of the problem.
"I'm sorry that the Cardinal Heroes had to go through all of that."
"You were locked up. You don't have anything to be ashamed about."
"Despite that, I can't help myself to feel that shame when I swore to protect the land that discriminates against you very much. To think that the Church of Three Heroes would mobilize this intensely against the heroes for looking out for the Shield Hero. You mentioned that you and the other heroes were already acquainted with one another before your summoning?"
"Yeah. I'm sure that's the only reason why they believed in me. I can't fathom what would have happened if they didn't, but perhaps it would have been for the best if they would have been involved this much in my troubles."
"I'm sure Mister Itsuki and Mister Ren never regretted a single thing in helping you out," Raphtalia exclaimed. "You would have done the same for them. Don't forget that!"
"If the other heroes are truly in trouble, we should move out to the secret passageway immediately," Eclair declared. Despite being shaken up seconds prior, conviction was sensed in her voice. "Once we finish up with the assistance, we can go confront the king once and for all concerning your circumstances."
Naofumi and Raphtalia nodded, allowing Eclair to lead the way.
Apparently, she had never known about such an access point from the prisons, but the castle was admittedly made in the old days when invasions against the castle was something to be concerned about. Most of these hidden exits were made with that in mind, but as the years went by, some of them were forgotten as they weren't used even a single time.
It forced them to head deeper into the prison, but upon coming across a small room that looked to be a cleaning storage, Eclair moved through the brooms to reach for a panel that was marked on the wall. She was informed that Zellus would outline it for them and when she pressed it, the back wall broke off and revealed a spiraling staircase upwards.
They started climbing.
"Miss Eclair, I'm curious about something," Raphtalia asked. "Mister Zellus mentioned that you were formerly a knight. May I ask as to why you were in there to begin with? Did you commit a crime of some sort to land yourself in there?"
"I was allegedly arrested for what I did to my allies. I punished them unjustly as to what the crime would say, but that wasn't the case. There were some knights that were hunting demi-humans to bring in as slaves and I stopped them from doing so. From my perspective, I punished them accordingly, but the eyes of justice were not my side."
"So you were stripped of your knighthood and thrown into the prisons," Naofumi said, filling in the blanks. His eyes panned over to Raphtalia briefly. "That definitely seems unfair for you. To a knight, the image I see is one that protects the people, not to go out of their way to condemn them."
"I really do appreciate what you tried to do though," Raphtalia said. "I do feel bad that you were treated harshly for doing so."
"I supposed that's just a testament to how much Melromarc discriminates against demi-humans," Naofumi continued. "Itsuki was right about how bad slavery was, not that I doubted him, but to think that it's ingrained so deeply that someone like you would be in the wrong."
"I thank you for your sympathy, but I don't need much of it. I'm more concerned as to the future that this country may be heading, especially with where the Cardinal Heroes are at this moment. It's a wonder that the other countries haven't already invaded Melromarc in the time I've been imprisoned here."
"How long were you in here for anyways?" Raphtalia asked.
"My sense of time has gone awry. I cannot say, but I can say for certain that the Cardinal Heroes had not been summoned yet when I was arrested, but news of the first wave of destruction had reached my ears a few days prior."
"So a month?"
"Has a month already gone by that quickly? Spending time in those depths for that long, I must look terrible. Please forgive myself for my appearance then."
"That wasn't in your control. You don't have to keep apologizing for things you couldn't avoid," Naofumi said. "But still, if you were in there for a month, wouldn't your fighting skills be rusty? I don't mean to downplay your abilities, but are you able to move around properly?"
"I should be able to. I kept up my physique while I was imprisoned, so my muscles won't be aching when I immediately use them in combat after so long. It is still a shame if I can't act in my top condition in front of the Shield Hero. Though, I never would have thought that this would be how I meet him, not even in my wildest dreams."
"It might be late to ask, but it doesn't seem like you dislike the Shield Hero."
Eclair nodded. "Honestly? About half of the knights have respect for the Shield Hero. Captain Lothringen is the prime example of one who would treat the Cardinal Heroes all equally and without bias. Since those same knights follow in his footsteps, it's not difficult to see his influence."
"And you look up to the captain as well?" Raphtalia asked.
"I do. He was a veteran of the Siltvelt War and in fact, he fought alongside my father, so I heard many great stories from him that demonstrated his heroic nature and conviction as a knight of Melromarc. However, he wasn't the origin of my desire to meet the Cardinal Heroes."
A nolgastic took her expression , holding her other hand softly as she continued to scale the steps.
"My father owned some territory in Melromarc and within those borders, the influence of the Church of Three Heroes was not as great. My father made sure of it, seeking for a place to have the Four Cardinal Heroes be seen with equal amounts of respect. I did spend some of my childhood in a village nearby my father's manor in which the demi-humans there loved the Shield Hero much more."
Raphtalia raised her eyebrow.
"Demi-humans in Melromarc?"
"They were sheltered from the discrimination. Under the watch of my father, they were not to be taken as slaves nor would they be badly treated for the reason of mere existence. They were all good people and taught me how much of a hero the Shield Hero was worth respecting."
"To think such a place existed here…"
"Yes, and it was a shame that my father's territory was the first place being hit with the wave in Melromarc."
Raphtalia suddenly froze, causing Naofumi to look back. He was going to ask her about what was wrong, but it was only her feet that stopped, not her mouth.
"Miss Eclair? What's your last name?"
"Hmm?" The former knight looked over her shoulder. "I supposed that I haven't done a full introduction as of yet, due to Zellus doing it for me. My name is Eclair Seaetto."
"And that village you visited in your childhood? What was it called?"
"It was merely a small place called Ruroruna Village."
"What's the matter, Raphtalia? Was there something wrong?"
Hearing his concern, Raphtalia then shook her head. "It's nothing, Master Naofumi," she whispered. "It's simply that this world might be smaller than I thought it was."
"The exit is ahead of us," Eclair continued. Her hand held the top of her weapon in readiness. "We should continue this conversation later if you want, but we should be prepared to fight our way through. I ask that we don't use any lethal force. In this context, they are our opponents, but they are still allies I trust in."
"Don't worry. With such a low attack, I can't even hurt anyone with this shield."
With a nod of affirmation from them, Eclair accessed the hidden lever and opened up the passage for them to leave. Down the hall, the group could already hear the massed panic that the knights were having, finding that the prisoners had escaped. They headed down the opposite path and tried looking for Ren as quickly as they could.
Now that he thought about it, Zellus never did tell them where the friend would show up. Having that realization sink in, they were caught in the game of who they would come across first and the odds were likely against them, but Eclair seemed more confident as to where they were heading.
"Wait, did Zellus inform you where they were?"
"Not particularly, but he mentioned that the king and the pope would be in a meeting together. That would only meet that they're up in one of the upper conference rooms and it might be the first place the Sword Hero may check when sweeping the place."
Running down one of the more familiar hallways, Naofumi remembered that this was the way to the throne room. He came down this path twice as a hero and once as a criminal, so it felt odd to be sprinting right by the doors in such a manner this time around.
However—
"Disappear from my sights!"
He knew that voice from anywhere.
He stopped immediately as the other two continued, only to stop after noticing the hero's delay. Without any hesitation, he ran back to the throne room and broke through the doors without telling the girls what he was doing.
Inside the throne room, Ren held a sword above Motoyasu.
And it was coming down on him.
Naofumi wasn't going to let that happen.
"[Destruction Sword]!"
"[Air Strike Shield]!"
As Ren's sword fell down, a green floating shield blocked the path and stopped it from reaching the injured Motoyasu. His friend must have not expected the arrival since he immediately backed off, seeing that his attack was stopped.
"Motoyasu!"
Naofumi used that chance to get in between Ren and Motoyasu, holding his shield forwards. He didn't know how things became so bad that Ren was trying to kill Motoyasu, but he wasn't going to allow it to happen. Never in a million years would he allow his friend to kill another friend.
Glancing back at the fallen friend, Naofumi was happy he was still conscious and even happier to hear that he was still able to keep a light mood, despite the terrible situation.
Even so, Naofumi was glad he got to see him again.
"This is a pretty crappy reunion, isn't it? Sorry about this, Naofumi."
Naofumi nodded, grimacing as he looked over to Ren.
"You can say that again, Motoyasu."
-/IV/-
"Master Naofumi!"
"Sir Naofumi!"
Raphtalia and Eclair ran into the throne room to find the confrontation occurring. As Motoyasu was heavily breathing behind him, he had the chance and energy to chuckle once he saw who came in and who they called for. With a playful smirk and a leer at the women, he nodded to the friend.
"Hey, you're doing… pretty good for yourself…"
"Motoyasu, stop talking. You're tired, so take it off yourself and grab a potion."
"Right…" Motoyasu shook his head. "Right, I was so focused on stopping Ren that… I almost forgot that potions existed…"
As Motoyasu brought out a few potions out from his item box, Raphtalia and Eclair ran over to Naofumi's side, drawing their swords in order to match Ren, but Naofumi had to squint his eyes at the friend. He certainly felt much differently than how they last met each other, almost as if the atmosphere around him was trying to choke him to submission.
That sword he held in his hand didn't look anything like a holy weapon, apart from the blue gem that remained consistent. He didn't have any other words to describe it, except for it having an evil and ominous tension tied to it. Naofumi had to wonder where Ren found such a terrible sword, but that couldn't be close to what his priority concern was.
"Ren! What do you think you're doing!?"
"I'm dealing with those that get in my way! I warned him, Naofumi! He's paying the damn price!"
"That's still no excuse to be fighting Motoyasu!"
"He betrayed us! He's been working with Myne this entire time!"
Naofumi quickly glanced over his shoulder, so seeing Motoyasu profusely shaking his head. "I have no idea what he's talking about, Naofumi! Please believe me! I've just been on good terms with her after the trial! I don't think Ren is thinking straight anymore!"
He turned back, prompting up his shield at Ren. It gave the swordsman all the responses he needed.
"Are you kidding me, Naofumi!? There's no way that he isn't lying! How could you be so stupid that the man could stab you in the back and you still believe in him!?"
"If believing in my friends makes me stupid, then I guess I'm the dumbest hero around these parts.I should be asking you the questions here, Ren! What the hell is going on with you!? I didn't think you were the type to attack your own friends like this!"
"I'm doing what's needed! I'm helping all of you out of this situation! If we let this damned country push us around like this, we're going to be left with nothing to our names! We're going to be left for dead here! If that's what you want, I still don't care! You always had the trouble of picking whatever option was bad for you, so let me do this in your stead. Something that you could never imagine to do! Something that would solve our problems!"
"How the hell would killing the king solve them!?"
Ren's voice growled deeper, as if he was losing himself to something demonic. His eyes weren't the same blue colour he was familiar with, but it was changed to a crimson colour. Perhaps, the cause of it had been the sword that he held in his hand?
"Even now, you don't even understand, Naofumi!"
"If it means that I'll attack Motoyasu as well, I frankly don't want to understand!"
"Then unless you're going to step out of the way, I'm taking you down too!"
Ren held his sword forwards, readying for a fight. He must have already gone through a duel with Motoyasu already but from how he's stanced, he was as if he didn't take any damage. Either that, or Ren was purposely ignoring his pain.
"Stop it, Ren! This isn't the way!"
He wanted Ren to listen to him, but it looked as if his friend fell down further than he could have expected. With Motoyasu recovering from his pain, they were going to have the numbers advantage against Ren and if he wasn't going to listen to anything they had to say, there was only one option left for them. He didn't really want to return the request and retaliate to take him down, but it must be done.
With a heavy heart, Naofumi stepped forwards—
—only to be interrupted with an arrow flying across his face.
The projectile flew across the room and hit the throne, but Naofumi glanced over to the door to see who had shot it. His heart felt relieved when it noticed it was Itsuki, but the dread returned when he realized that the arrow was aiming for him.
"Itsuki?"
"Not a single step forward, Naofumi."
His bow was being aimed at him, not Ren. He didn't know the meaning of this, but he had to assume that he must have learnt something while he was gone. It was possible that Itsuki learned that the pope was here and he ended up wanting to assist the wrong side, favouring the assassination.
In that case, that was probably the worst news he could believe in.
"Ren has the right idea. If we kill the king and the pope here, we'll be able to show everyone the justice that should be shown to all. None of the business to screw heroes over or any of that!"
"Finally, someone has sense in them," Ren scoffed. "Come over here and we'll keep Motoyasu and Naofumi down in order for us to do what's needed."
"No way! Itsuki too!?" Motoyasu spat. "Damn it!"
"Please!" Naofumi called out. "Think about what you're doing, Itsuki!"
Itsuki walked into the room, keeping his arrow pulled backwards at them. He slowly made his way over to Ren, giving no chances for them to convince him otherwise on his decision. Perhaps they might have been able to hold Ren off, but it was another problem persuading two people at the same time, all while they threatened for a fight.
How were they going to get through this one?
It was especially going to be tough, considering Itsuki had a skill that could strike through his defenses.
"I'm going to say this one last time!" Ren shouted. "Stay out of the way!"
"Itsuki! Are you really going to do this!? Do you think this is what Welst wanted you to do!?"
His friend remained silent, not answering the question. The sight in his eyes remained unwavered, surprising him. He was sure that would have at least made him falter, even by a bit. If that was the case, there may have been a chance to pull him back on the right side.
All that remained was a determined seriousness.
"Mister Itsuki… Mister Ren…"
"It's clear to me that they're not interested in talking things out, Sir Naofumi. We have to prepare ourselves for battle if we intended to stop this madness. Force will be the only way to solve this."
Naofumi wondered if he even had the mental strength to fight them in the first place. He could applaud Motoyasu for his attempt to hold Ren back, but he felt like he himself wasn't up to the task. His arm kept trembling in its inevitable fate as Motoyasu got back up, groaning in the soreness.
"I don't want to do this either, Naofumi," Motoyasu grunted, readying his spear for his second round. "However, I can't let them do this to themselves. It doesn't matter if we have to take Ren and Itsuki at the same time! I won't let them make criminals out of themselves and dig themselves deeper into their burdens!"
Hearing his words felt encouraging, but it didn't stop his despair.
He started wondering if he was truly protecting them by fighting them. It sounded counter-intuitive, but he couldn't think of another way that he could help them. All he could hope for was that their words could make through to their thoughts during the battle.
"Yeah, you're right."
Naofumi gulped and raised his shield properly, taking a few steps to be their frontline. With Raphtalia, Eclair, and Motoyasu staying close, it was anybody's guess as to how this entire skirmish was going to play out. Simply pondering that idea kept his heart beating loudly, terrified at what would happen if they were to fail, but he couldn't stop now.
"We have to give it our best shot."
"Right..."
With so many questions still in the air, the second round would soon begin.
…
…
Or so Naofumi thought.
The moment Ren took his first step to attack, the trajectory on Itsuki's bow changed immediately and from it, a skill was glowing towards—
—the back of Ren's head.
Out of sheer instinct of the sight of seeing his in the way of danger—
"Ren! Watch out!"
Naofumi quickly covered his mouth, but the damage was already done.
Itsuki released his arrow, but Ren turned quickly and swung upwards to break the arrow into pieces before closing the small gap between them. The sword prompting came down onto Itsuki without hesitation and Itsuki responded, blocking the blade's path with his bow.
He tossed Ren's assault to the side with a grunt, but the blade returned with skilled agility behind it. However, Itsuki was able to keep up, blocking the multiple attacks while he tried to use his bow as a blunt tool to get his opponent off of him. He managed to flip positions with Ren and space themselves with a spear's length of distance, but Ren was unrelenting, closing near with a strong thrust.
Itsuki took on the strike with his bow, holding the end with a single hand and slamming the weapons away. In his other hand, a fist was building up and soared into the air. Likewise, Ren noticed and moved just as quickly with his own fist.
Two loud thuds, simultaneously playing over each other, echoed in the room.
The friends broke from the impact and with such forces being put behind the punches, they both skid away from the other. Itsuki rubbed his cheeks in agony while Ren's face remained red.
"Itsuki! I…!"
He was happy that Itsuki was only pretending, but the breathing coming from his friend sounded heavy. Nevertheless, Naofumi acknowledged that they could have ended this dilemma if it weren't for his big mouth, so he was about to apologize until Itsuki raised his arm.
"Ren would have noticed anyways. Your call to him didn't do anything."
"Then with Itsuki actually on our side," Motoyasu proclaimed, "this is going to be much easier to control Ren's little tantrum!"
"Thank goodness," Raphtalia sighed out of relief. "Now then, we have to take care of Mister Ren now!"
"Whenever you're ready!" Eclair shouted out.
"Alright, let's—"
"No."
Itsuki's firm words felt silent to Naofumi's ears. Everyone else looked surprised as well. It took a moment for Naofumi to even comprehend what his friend just said, because from the sound of it, that one simple word made it seem like Itsuki didn't want them to fight.
"Itsuki?"
"You're not fighting Ren. That's not going to accomplish anything from what I know of him." Rubbing the pain off his cheek one more, Itsuki stood up straight and glared at their unreachable friend. "If we lose to him, that won't help Ren. If we beat him forcefully, that won't help him either."
"What are you talking about?"
"I don't want to beat him. That's why I'm fighting this one by myself."
"You can't be serious, Itsuki!" Naofumi couldn't believe his ears, reaching out to grab Itsuki to give him a good shake. However, all his hand did was rest there with a grip. "You're not going to be able to do anything if you're here by yourself! Motoyasu wasn't able to to hold on against Ren and while I don't want to sound mean, I don't think you can either!"
"Sorry, but this is something I have to do. Not only for Ren, but for myself as well."
With Itsuki not bothering to look behind him to see the fear stricken across Naofumi's face, he turned to Motoyasu for him to help convince their friend that what he was doing was a ridiculous idea. However, he was shocked to see Motoyasu back off.
"Let's trust in Itsuki. If he says he'll handle it, that's fine by me. If anything, using me as an example was a bad one. I think Itsuki is more qualified to fight against Ren than I could ever try to be."
"Is that truly a wise decision, Sir Spear Hero?" Eclair asked.
"I believe in the guy, so we can leave this to him." Naofumi found himself letting go of his friend, the same friend that took a few steps away from the group to face Ren. "Don't you believe Itsuki?"
"If I hadn't come in to save in the nick of time, you wouldn't be standing up like this so easily. I can't help myself to feel scared for what happens to Itsuki especially when he can't match close-ranged combat with Ren with a bow, no matter how legendary it might be."
"Don't worry, Naofumi. I'm scared for Itsuki too." Motoyasu reached out for Naofumi and pulled him back to them. He turned back to see Motoyasu, painted with conflict on his face. "But if Itsuki has a plan, I'm going to believe him. My beliefs couldn't stay firm during your trial, nor was it able to bring Ren back to his senses. This is as much as I can do for us now."
"Motoyasu…" He could feel the regret seeping through his friend's words.
"Besides, this gives us the perfect chance to hunt down Aldrecht." Naofumi blinked blanklessly, seeing how tightly Motoyasu was holding his spear at the mention of the old man's man. "I got some questions to ask and some answers to find out once we cross with him."
"Finding Lord Aldrecht?" Eclair rubbed her chin. "I suppose that's aligns with mainly what I wished to do. Asking Aldrecht about the truth may open up the mystery of what's going on in the background."
Naofumi desperately looked to Raphtalia, as if she had anything to say on the matter, but she merely shook her head in response to his pleas.
"I'm following what you wish to do, Master Naofumi. I'll stay by your side no matter what."
Clicking his tongue and feeling his body be weighed down, he knew that he was going to hate himself later for this. He turned back to Itsuki who had been staring off with Ren. It seemed like they had their own conversation as the group decided what to do.
"Itsuki! Don't… Please don't hurt yourself here!" Clenching his hands together, he glared at the hero's back. "I'm never going to forgive you if you do! I'll never be able to forgive myself, so...!"
Itsuki merely glanced back for a moment and gave a soft smile.
"Yeah. I know. And thanks."
And with that, the group moved out of the throne room to leave Ren and Itsuki to their fight. For that encounter of childhood friends, all Naofumi could do now was to pray for their safety and protection - both of them to the fullest extent that his heart could bear.
-/IV/-
"What's the big idea here, Itsuki!? Do you really not see things my way!?"
"Don't get me wrong, Ren," Itsuki sighed. "I hate the pope. I hate the king. I hate how much they have done to throw our circumstances as heroes, those who were supposed to save this world together, into chaos. I would love for them to receive their appropriate justice by my hand - by our hands."
However, the white-haired girl made him step back and see the bigger picture of what he hated the most. He thought that seeing injustice in this world would be the thing that pissed him off more than anything. Watching the weak be treated badly, being pushed around by the conceited that stand on higher ground - it wasn't as if he forgot all about it. He suffered through that pain, so he understood what it was like to be on that side, but what he hated the most echoed once again.
That fear struck him, one that he didn't want to ever see, but he ended up seeing it regardless of his desire. Even so, it was that sole desire that kept his doubts from pushing him away from what really mattered to him. He adored the idea of justice, but just this one time…
"However, I hate seeing my friend lose himself like this. I hate it more than anything I could ever imagine. I know that the person I've known for years and the person that I've trusted for the entire time we've been together, it hurts me." Itsuki held his chest with a hand. "It hurts me so much, I hate it."
"Shut up," Ren growled. "I'm doing what needs to be done! You were supposed to be helping me execute this necessary justice with me! Didn't we despise those who bullied others for the sake of it!? Why are you taking the side of their justice!? I'm not in the wrong, Itsuki! I'm not in the wrong!"
The air around his friend started to become harder to breathe in as a darker aura started devouring him and his sword. It was like madness, only made visual to the naked eye.
"I'm not taking their justice. I'm not taking your justice either."
Welst's words echoed once more in his ears, as if it was helping him push onwards with his heavy heart. The fact that justice came in some many grey areas was something he certainly had to consider, but he couldn't climb up if he didn't follow it for what he wanted it to be. There was no rush to become something he wasn't ready to become yet, so all that was needed was that first step.
"Here, I'm not fighting as a hero. I'm not doing this for the sake of some idealistic justice. I'm not doing this to be awarded with recognition, attention, or to tower over evil like I'm high and mighty." Itsuki slowly brought up his bow once more and pulled back an arrow. "I'm facing off against you as your friend. I'm the friend who won't hold back his shots."
"So you really do intend to go against me?"
He grabbed his own head, losing himself to his own wrath.
"FINE THEN! I'LL TAKE CARE OF YOU TOO! DISAPPEAR!"
Energy erupted from Ren's body and bursted into a volcanic flame of the same ominous colour. However, Itsuki never flinched in that transformation. He merely readied his bow for what he knew was the perfect embodiment of "do or die". Despite Ren not being able to hear him anymore, Itsuki still muttered to himself and to the version of Ren that could still hear him inside.
"No, you're wrong. That's far from it. I'm not going against you. I could never think about doing that to you in a thousand years." Itsuki closed his eyes and felt the strength he needed to stand tall. "After all, I made a promise to you many years ago."
Itsuki opened them up with vigor replaced in them.
When two heroes come in conflict, many would consider their fight with one another to be one of a sacred duel. If news of their approaching battle would come to ears, many would flock to see the heroes clash against each other in their mettle of strength and wits. Those would cheer for the hero of their choice to seek victory while jeer at the hero that they disliked.
Nevertheless, there was always something important when two Cardinal Heroes couldn't see each other's perspective and require them to resort to forceful means in order to get what they wanted. Perhaps one side would have believed the other to be a criminal, unworthy of keeping the name of hero, while the other side simply wished to be left alone, being more of a victim to the circumstances he was given.
Perhaps in another story, this would be the case.
However, this was not one of those sacred duels.
There was nothing sacred about two friends fighting each other.
This was merely a fight for them to understand.
This was merely a fight to save themselves in the process.
It was a fight built from an image.
"Do you remember it, Ren?"
The image of two children, grabbing onto each other's hands in the middle of the night, sung strongly like ripples in water. It was the promise that they made all those years ago and feeling that loose grip from the black-haired child's hand, his friend only did what was right and grabbed on tighter, giving him a happy smile.
It was a genuine smile that he never thought he could have, but as long as his friend was by his side, he would keep this promise close to his heart. No matter what, he would always keep that underlying desire to help and protect him as a hero of justice. Needless to say, he never would have expected to have wanted to drop that pretense of heroism, but perhaps it was what he needed to do in order to fulfill the promise.
That promise between two friends brightened as their first shooting star finally soared across the skies above.
-/IV/-
Volume 2 / Chapter 13
Chapter's True Name / A Promise of Decision
"I said that I would save you."
The arrow sparked a brilliant light and conjured wind around him.
"So shut up and bring it on! I swear to God, I'm going to knock some sense back into that stupid head of yours!"
With gritted teeth and a tightened blade, Ren dashed forwards at astounding speeds.
He roared violently into the air and likewise, Itsuki did the same.
"ITSUKIII!"
"RENNN!"
Abandoning their roles as heroes and laying their emotions bare, their duel began.
Author's Notes : Some of the interactions between Naofumi and Eclair was pulled directly from AllenBlaster's Hope of the Shield Hero. I had trouble with it, so shamelessly ripped it out and polished it for my story. Thanks, bud.