Author's Note: Another Chapter down, I hope everyone is enjoying these stories as much as I am writing them. Read, Review, Favourite and Enjoy!
Chapter 48: The Sword Hero's Home Life
Naofumi had brought back something with him when he got back to Melromarc, thanks to his shield's storage compartment that is. Firstly was a gift for Tatsuya, guns, lots of them from the warehouse Setsuna blew a hole into. If he could copy his Silver Horns into the bow then he can definitely get these things. The end result?
'Weapon Copy Activated, Scatter Cannon Level locked 100.'
'Weapon Copy Activated, Heavy Auto Cannon Level locked 100.'
'Weapon Copy Activated, Bolter Rifle Level locked 100.'
'Weapon Copy Activated, Lancer Rifle Level locked 100.'
Well, it's not like Tatsuya was the only person in the world who could fire a gun. The whole point about them is that they are easier to use then bows. But he also found something else interesting as well.
"Muu!" Filo was glaring down contemptuously at the red muscle car that Naofumi had his shield spit out. Something Takt and his forces had built, some combination of plastic like slime Lacquer and spider silk for the chassis, stronger than steel but light as a feather, with a electric engine inside it's various functions powered by magic. It's seats were made from the leather of some monster, large and furry, some kind of big cat perhaps. Still Naofumi's concern about it stems from something far less than just it being a 'Filo-less Carriage' as the bird had made clear already.
"Well that bastard Takt did make it after all. It wouldn't surprise me if it really was evil." Filo transformed as she prepared to take that opening to smash the thing into smithereens. "That wasn't permission for you to break it." Filo gave a disappointed sigh while Naofumi scratched his chin in thought.
This was a modern car, not a automobile, it had a horn, review mirror, seat belts, electronic locks, automatic shift, air conditioning and chances are many other modern features from Naofumi's world that he had taken for granted before he was summoned here. And all of it yet more proof that Takt was definitively not of this world.
"Is this really such a big deal. I mean it was stated that the design of cars was based on blue prints from yours and the other three heroes world right?" Raphtalia asked looking at Naofumi concerned.
"This isn't 'based on' anything. The cars of my world are a product of a hundred and fifty years worth of innovation, innovation that was created by necessity. The first cars that we had built were wheels, a board, seats and a engine. That's it. Then came a hundred years worth of accidents and technological innovations to make cars safer and more comfortable. This isn't notes left behind to be deciphered, this is detailed information on highly complex technology." Naofumi explained listing the reasons for why this was not the product of just one person.
"I agree with Naofumi's assessment." Tatsuya stated looking at the car knowingly, and at the crate full of guns. "This isn't just second hand information."
"So your... reincarnator theory holds?" Raphtalia asked looking at the car concerned.
"Um... what do you mean by 'reincarnator?'" Rishia asked looking at the two heroes confused. Naofumi and Tatsuya looked at each other suspiciously.
"Go ahead, it's your theory." Tatsuya stated gesturing for Naofumi to continue.
"In my world there is a popular genre of fictional stories known as Isekai, or trapped in another world..."
"So basically our current situation." Tatsuya interrupted prompting Naofumi to inhale sharply.
"A fact I've been trying to ignore. When it isn't some random event flat out dragging people here like what happened to us then it's someone dying and getting reincarnated in another world." Naofumi explained prompting more confusion from Raphtalia and Rishia.
"I don't understand, why not just write about a fictional world?" Rishia asked shrugging her shoulders.
"In my experience, a few things tend to happen. First it turns out that our protagonist, for whatever reason, possesses a absurd amount of information on one specific topic that grants him a edge over the world's magic system. 'Oh for some reason I possess a absurd amount of scientific information even though I was never able to find success back in my world? Well I'll just apply whatever random crap I know to this world's magic that just so happens to be super compatible' sort a spiel." Naofumi stated, now having nothing but derision for the genre that he use to enjoy so much.
Once upon a time he actually fantasise about getting summoned to another world to get away from his worthless brother and ass-hat parents. Now he found himself feeling like he was being coddled by them.
"Sort of the idea that you spend your life learning to do something, fail, and then suddenly find yourself being super appreciated for it?" Tatsuya stated prompting Naofumi to look at him funny. "Genius magic programmer remember? Though I can't actually use most of the spells I come up with it was a huge help during the annual nine-school's competition."
"No idea what that is. The second thing is that they tend to wind up in a political wasteland and somehow or another apply the ideas of politics they had in their world to the new one and gradually reform the world that way." Naofumi stated letting the others fill in the pieces on what that implied.
"So in other words: take over the world?" Raphtalia deduced and Naofumi confirmed.
"That speaks to Tact's endgame. This car and these guns are a pretty good prototype for a tank, and I hear he's even got air planes lying around somewhere in Faubrey." Tatsuya explained recalling what he's read up on Faubrey's forces.
"What's the third thing?" Rishia asked looking curiously at Naofumi.
"Harems." That they were familiar with.
It was the first thing that came up when Shieldfreeden had asked Naofumi for 'help.' They had both grown up being told stories about the heroes 'legendary sexual appetites' that it was actually a surprised to see this batch so... chaste. Tatsuya apparently had single target sexuality programmed into his brain, Ikki was in a dedicated Monogamous relationship back home, Setsuna was already engaged to some prime minister back in her Japan, and Naofumi had washed his hands of the whole business after what the Bitch did to him.
"That seems to fall in line with what we saw of Takt's forces. All of the elite units were female, and most of the staff and soldiers around the warehouse were also female. The fox woman also seemed to use her illusion magic to add whatever pretty face he felt like that they came across to his attendants as well." Tatsuya explained prompting a look of surprise from Naofumi.
"Holy Fuck! What kind of Libido does this sick freak have!?" Naofumi's declaration came in time for Ikki and his party to pop into existence next to them through the portal skill.
"What exactly are we talking about here?" Ikki asked looking at Naofumi confusedly.
"The young man Setsuna hunted down and executed. Anything you'd like to add?" Tatsuya asked in a much calmer tone of voice then what Naofumi was a moment ago.
"He was apparently working with the local governor. They replaced her." Ikki stated still not entirely up to speed on what they were talking about.
"Yet more women in his life, from his allies, to his victims, to his minions. By chance was this guy the only one with a dick in his entire social circle?" Naofumi clarified prompting a shrug from Ikki. "Why'd you pop out here instead of in the summoning room anyway?"
"Raiju doesn't like being indoors much." Ikki affectionately brushed down his dragon horse's mane while the Kirin licked his face.
"Either way, what Takt could do isn't half as important as how he could do it." Naofumi explained scratching his chin in thought.
"Are we still talking about him being a reincarnator?" Ikki asked and Tatsuya nodded.
"In stories like these, there are usually some kind of... god if you will that facilitates the transfer, well even though I saw that there are also stories where they just get reincarnated without talking to anyone at all. Those ones seem to be the majority." Naofumi explained while the other two nodded their heads in understanding.
"Should we be on the lookout for more of them?" Tatsuya asked military training kicking in.
"That guy was an idiot, if whoever is responsible for this isn't stupid then they would have back ups in place." Naofumi concluded as the three of them put their chins in their hands. "The question becomes: how do we identify the stupid fuckers."
"For starters 'Stupid Fuckers' probably isn't the first thing we should ask for." Ikki stated prompting suspicious looks from Tatsuya and Naofumi. "If you were a god who wanted to empower agents to sow chaos in the world what would you do with them? Well for starters you might wanna dump information into their brains that would make them useful, afterwards you'd tweak their body to make them naturally more powerful, birthing them into a position of power would also be good but if you play your cards right it would also be good to have them start from the bottom."
"That all makes sense." Naofumi nodded his head in understanding while he sat down on one of the seats of the car. "How much of Takt meets that criteria?"
"He appears to have been of considerable intellect, has the weapon stealing ability and is the great nephew of Faubrey's king." Tatsuya explained having blurted out what limited information he was able to gather in Shieldfreeden.
"Sounds like all of the boxes checked. We know anyone else like that?" Naofumi stated looking up to the sky.
"I heard of one, but he should be dead." Ikki stated raising his hand up in the air.
"And that would have stopped Takt why?" Naofumi asked almost sarcastically.
"He was apparently a 'genius prodigy' with the Hengen Musou style who attempted to use the style to take over the world a couple of decades ago. The old lady would know more about it than me." Ikki explained as he conceded the point to Naofumi.
"Hengen Musou style?" Naofumi asked his face full of blatant suspicion.
"It's fighting style that revolves around Ki manipulation, like what Setsuna can do." Ikki stated prompting a suspicious glare from Naofumi.
"Show me." Ikki and Naofumi went out to the courtyard and on Ikki's insistence Naofumi took off his armour and switched out to the shield with the weakest defence possible. Ikki lightly tapped the shield with his sword, and Naofumi felt like he was hit by a truck.
"Guh! What was...?" Naofumi asked as he pondered the implications.
"Point. Imagine your opponent as a clay vase and the attack as a marble, drop the marble inside and shake the vase until it breaks. The stronger the vase the more hits the marble gets in."
"Oh lovely, the perfect offence against a defence type like me." Naofumi stated rolling his eyes. "By any chance have you been learning anything that would actually be useful to me?"
"I know the method of obtaining it for yourself. After about a month of taking attacks like this you should be able to gain enough control over the stuff to do the stuff Setsuna can do." A month, a whole bloody month. Fantastic, well it's not like they can stay and work together, they had to level up in preparation for the waves. Then again this could be treated as preparation too.
"Uhm..." Atla saw the whole battle, well perhaps see wasn't the right word, but what Ikki just did to Naofumi was identical to what she was doing against the dragon back in Shieldfreeden.
"Atla don't get in between-GAK!" Fohl attempted to grab his sister and pull her back, for his troubles had his arm grabbed by Atla and put into a joint lock, and the sight was noticed by Ikki.
"Both of them got hero stats right?" Ikki asked looking at the display confusedly.
"And the little one should be a lot weaker than her brother." Naofumi brought up the party menu and true enough Atla's stats were a lot lower than her brother's. "Can you tell us what you're doing when you hit people." Cue Atla spending the next few minutes explaining what she's doing to people who don't share her unique view point on the world and the pair settled for bringing her to Granny to have a look.
"Oh boy, you seem to have tripped over quite a natural talent here Sir Hero." Granny was examining Atla closely not sure whether she should feel concerned or over joyed by what she had been brought.
"I think we're starting to get that impression." Naofumi stated though he noted that the old lady didn't look happy. "Is there something the matter?"
"The last person that I ran into with this much Ki running through them killed almost everyone I cared about." Granny explained as she put Atla back on the ground.
"Our suspected Reincarnator." Ikki commented prompting a suspicious look from the old lady. "Tell us more about him."
"Just a nobody orphan we picked up one day." Granny stated looking like she was very confused right now.
"Doesn't fit with the pattern." Naofumi stated scratching his chin.
"A pattern of one." Tatsuya pointed out in return.
"What are you talking about?" Setsuna asked as she came over from the castle.
"Tact." Naofumi stated crossing his arms.
"Right... Ikki the Queen wants to talk to you, in the mean time you guys can fill us in."
Ikki went back into the castle where the Queen was waiting for him in the throne room.
"You wanted to talk to me?"
"Given the somewhat... surprising information that I learned about some of you I thought it would be good to get some one on one information on all of you." The Queen stated vividly remembering the ball of fire in the sky Tatsuya claimed to have created from a single drop of rain.
"Tatsuya talked to you didn't he?" Ikki asked, he too saw the fire ball in the sky, as did the people of Zeltoble, Faubrey and chances are half the world. But Ikki was the one who knew what village Tatsuya had remade into his main base of operations.
"If you're concerned about his cursed weapon, Setsuna already purified it, that together with the information that Nero gave her about the state of his Shield Hero's world his mental state pulled a one eighty from 'I need to figure out how to get off this world as soon as possible' to 'I need to accumulate as many powerful skills as possible before I go back.'" That was legitimately good to know. Anything that made Tatsuya inclined to save this world as opposed to destroying himself and it with him. "So what do you want to know?"
"Setsuna and Tatsuya were both 'in the middle of something' when they were summoned." So the queen was watching their first meeting, or had someone report it to her. "But what I don't know is what you were doing before coming here. Someone of your level of ability clearly has some goal for the future, so I would like to hear about it."
"Graduating was the big one at the time." Ikki explained as he took a offered seat.
"Explain to me that process. I imagine it must be different for a 'blazer.'" The Queen knew when someone was trying to give the minimal amount of information as possible.
"In regards to Blazers over all I'm considered to be pretty below average, so it was more difficult for me than most." Ikki explained awkwardly scratching the back of his head.
"With all do respect but I sincerely find that hard to believe." The Queen saw the footage of the fight against the wave, saw Ikki carve bloody swaths through the mass of undead which had attempted to dog pile on him, skewered a high level undead to death with hundred swords.
"People tell me that all the time, but here's the thing: blazers are judged by six criteria. Luck, Physical conditioning, Magical power, Magic control, offensive power and defensive power. With the exception of my Physical conditioning which is A everything else is a rather abysmal F." Ikki stated quite sincere in his relaying of facts.
"They don't take into account your skill with the blade?" The Queen asked looking at Ikki suspiciously.
"No they don't. Adding in a category that has nothing to do with magic implies that a normal person might be superior in some way to a blazer. Right proper embarrassment to my family, mostly the reason why they've been trying to get rid of me for years." Ikki stated prompting a surprised look from the Queen.
"And for what reason does your family want you dead?" The queen asked using her fan to suppress a shocked look on her face.
"I exist." Was Ikki's blunt reply while shrugging his shoulders.
"Use more words please." The Queen asked not interpreting that response as a answer.
"I come from a long line of powerful highly respected Blazers responsible for defending our country for generations. Producing such a weak individual as myself was humiliating for them, so they did everything in their power to imagine me out of existence." Ikki explained shrugging his shoulders.
"And your swordsmanship skill?" The queen asked her tone filled with blatant suspicion.
"Entirely self taught. If your shadows have been watching me as much as I think they have then they probably should have realised that by now." Ikki stated as he cracked his neck.
"Funny. From the video crystals I saw your movements don't look self taught." The Queen stated making her doubts known.
"In the process of practising people tend to pick up mistakes early on that if they don't correct immediately they can instead get stuck with them. As an outside observer I can see these mistakes, see where they leave themselves open and correct their movements. Don't get me wrong it's not easy to do, it only works because I have complete control over every single muscle in my body."
"I see. Well seeing your prodigious skill with the blade I imagine that your family has been somewhat apologetic to you for their past actions." The Queen stated prompting a bitter look for Ikki. "Do I want to know?"
"The week before my summoning here consisted of me getting dragged into a hearing arranged by my father based on trumped up charges, spending that week drinking out of a toilet and eating nothing to avoid getting drugged or poisoned, being yelled at by my father's henchmen for being a weakling, being told to my face by my father that I mean nothing to him, the low point of the week, and after a week of starvation, physical and mental exhaustion I was dropped off in the middle of densely crowded city with a very short time limit for a very important match I needed to get to across town." Throughout the entire description of the events Ikki's tone of voice remained calm and even, as if this level of abuse was not just expected but in fact normal. "After I won said match in a single blow, nearly killing myself in the process I should add, one of the aforementioned henchmen lost his shit and tried to kill me. If it wasn't for my girlfriend Stella he probably would've succeeded too. That is what I was doing before I came here."
"I see." So then, Ikki wouldn't know that he's depressed even if he wanted to. It's entirely possible he has a cursed weapon swimming around the sea of blades he's doubtlessly unlocked by now and never even realised it. Why are all these heroes so ridiculously powerful but emotionally unstable? "You mentioned a girlfriend. I imagine that you are eager to return home?"
"Well yes, but I intend to beat your waves before doing so." Ikki explained shrugging his shoulders.
"Yes. I imagine that the power of the legendary sword would be quite a boon to you when you go back to your School." The queen stated breathing a sigh of relief that Ikki at least wasn't actively looking for a way back home.
"I have no intention of using it." Ikki retorted as if he had been insulted.
"...That is going to take some explaining Sir hero." The Queen stated after a moment of stunned silence.
"It's a bleeding weapon of mass destruction with the versatility of a Swiss army knife." If Ikki needs to rely on such a thing to fight he might as well go to a MacDonalds with a resume now. "Do you not understand what the term tournament means? If I show up suddenly one day with a magic sword that has the power to copy other swords and gain their powers then people are going to have questions like where I got it, and how can they use it and they aren't going to care if my answer is no." They knew it was possible to steal legendary weapons, Setsuna's fight with Takt was proof enough of that fact.
"I see your point. I have all the information from you that I feel I need. I would like to hold a meeting between the four of you so that we might be able to discuss the waves." Ikki gave a respectful bow as he left to get the others.
With the mess with the church finally sorted it's supply of holy water, with it's potent curse curing power, was opened up. As if to prove that nothing good would ever come out of the Church of the Three Heroes the water was currently being put to use to save the life of a member of the royal family, well former member. Bitch was useful as long as she was alive, so the Queen allowed her to return from her coma. After she woke up though she was not happy. Not happy at all.
"What happened you incompetent Healers! Look at my face!" Bitch's scowl was hard to make out between the melted flesh and burns, but when you did make it out said melted flesh and burns made the scowl all the scarier to look at.
"Bitch please calm down, yelling at the healers will not improve your situation any." One of the Shadows stated as they emerged from said shadows to look down at the heavily scarred Bitch.
"...Who are you talking to?" Bitch asked looking at the shadow with feelings of fear and trepidation.
"I am speaking to you, Bitch." The shadow Emphasised the last word, just to hammer the term home.
"How dare you call the first-GGGYYYAAAHHH!" The thus far invisible slave seal activated, the Queen kept her promise to bind Malty as a slave if nothing else, stupidly easy to do while she was still in a coma.
"As per the agreement the Queen made with the Four Heroes, you have been stripped of your royal title, renamed to Bitch, and have had these facts reinforced through the use of a slave seal." The shadow smiled at the tormented look Malty was receiving. "In addition, you are to work off the sizeable debt that you have accrued while the Queen has been away." A bill had been presented though for now Malty had bigger concerns.
"FOUR HEROES!? WHAT HAPPENED TO THE THREE HEROES CHURCH!?" Bitch was all panicked now, distinctly recalling that she was fast tracked for the throne before the Shield Demon maimed her, obviously her father would never stand for such things.
"After their repeated and brazen attempts to overthrow the royal family the Church of the Three heroes has been dismantled and absorbed into the Church of The Four Heroes." The Shadow explained, mildly amused by the reactions Bitch was giving.
"Father would never stand for such a thing!" Bitch shouted clearly not knowing her father very well, by design mind you, but irrelevant.
"Trash has no say in the matter." The shadow stated amused by the latest look of outraged shock Bitch was giving.
"Trash?" Bitch asked her face warped in true horror.
"Quite. The former prince Consort has also been renamed in light of his unfair treatment of the Shield Hero." The Shadow was enjoying Malty's look of despair as they removed their mask to reveal a familiar face. Well not Familiar to Bitch, she likely erased all trace of his existence from her mind after she was done with him. But he remembered. "From now on you're living in the mud with the rest of us, and there's not a damned thing you can do about it!"
Author's Note:
RonaldM40196867: It does take a bit of work don't it? Happy April. I like the series as a whole.
superpierce: Thank you for saying so.
Necrogod: True. Your welcome.
Dat-boi-waddup: I explained this already back in the first chapter. Setsuna used a alias because she was concerned that the people who had the ability to abduct people from other worlds would also have the power to do more unpleasant things to them with access to their name too.