Biggest thanks for Ace-Triad helping me with SPAG edit. Also special thanks to Angel Wraith for reading my rough draft and provide important feedbacks. Sorry I forgot the precise reviewer who suggested Eclair being the one pointing to Naofumi about him committing social taboo on Raphtalia, but I took your idea in this chapter.
More author note at the end for people who are interested to see me blabber some more.
The undercover princess tosses her sword onto the corner of her guest room. After a rather eventful night, she can't wait to throw herself onto a good bed and feels smooth silk against her skin.
"You sure kept me waiting." The gruff, unfamiliar voice of a young man almost makes her jump right out of her dress robe. She pivots on her heel as a fireball lights up in her left hand while her right hand pulls out her dagger, ready to toss both to her possible assailant before diving for her weapon.
It was a dumb mistake to throw her main weapon away, something she should remember the next time - if there'll be a next time.
"What? You act like you've never seen an assassin in your life before. And you call yourself a princess?" The man scoffs at the princess. Underneath the light of the moon and stars, Mein makes out the dim shape of a lean built young man with wild hair. As her eyes slowly adapt to the lack of proper lighting, she realizes it's one of the lapdogs of her friend Iris.
More specifically, the less well behaving Henchman Number 2. The one who is supposed to be her contact.
"Assassin? You?" Mein turns her nose up at the thug. "The Shadow Guard Brotherhood won't accept a mongrel like you, no matter how down their luck they sink."
Henchman Number 2 leaps out of the chair with lightning agility, pushing Mein right into the wall by her wrists. The dagger drops out of her hand while the fire extinguishers. "What about me? Well. Excuse me, princess. I could have easily snapped your neck, if I wanted to."
Chapter 39: The Burden of a Princess
"You do realize how compromising our position looks, if a guard overheard the noise and walk in?" Mein narrows her eyes. Her heart is pounding from both the hard knock against the wall, and Henchman Number 2's threat. Despite that, she has no plan to show fear to the stray dog of her friend Iris. "I do not understand why you have such strong hostility towards me, when I am the childhood friend of your master. Perhaps you aren't as loyal towards your mistress as both Iris and I assumed, hmm?"
"Do NOT question my loyalty to my lady Iris, whom I owe my life to!" The mongrel narrows his eyes just like the princess, he grinds his teeth together. "As for you... I know your kind well. You are the kind that'll stab someone in their back, if there's a single copper piece to be made. I should kill you where you stand, and be done with you."
Mein feels herself quickly calming down despite the snarling threat. No, Henchman Number 2 won't kill her if he has the time to make a vague threat. Any moment he wastes now is a moment he's more likely to be discovered. He only wants to scare her, and watch her quiver. "Ooohhh... scary. Too bad a dog puts the fear into me much more than you'll ever do, literally. Do you know how I got my scar? It was with a two-headed Wavehound having more bite than his bark. Unlike you."
Her voice becomes sharper, more vindictive as she figuratively spits each word into the henchman's face. "If you hate me so much, stop threatening to kill me and kill me. Let's see how Iris likes it, when the Shield Hero finds out her lap dog killed his first companion who saved him from an unjust trial!"
Henchman Number 2 grunts at Mein before he tosses away her wrist. He slowly turns around, only to turn on his heel again and tries to strike the princess' face. Too bad for him, Mein is ready for him this time and catches his hand this time with her fencer's instinct. "Did you expect this to work twice-"
Mein doesn't have time to finish her sentence, when the thug trips her on her feet. Lying on the ground, seeing baby filorials flying and chirping around her head, the princess watches helplessly as Henchman Number 2 bends down to loom over her. "Now it's time for you to fulfill your bargain, princess."
"Help me up first, you wretched dog!" Mein scowls back at the thug, Henchman Number 2 drags her up by her hood, and tosses her right onto the bed. The princess slowly moves her still spinning head onto the pillow. "Someone plotted to kill Lord Balgruuf. They changed his request for aid against a Dragon Emperor, to a request to exterminate a single wayward dragon."
"Good, good." The thug nods his head along. It's hard to tell if he's pleased at the information, or someone was trying to murder one of Mother's loyal allies. Henchman Number 2 opens the window to the outside, as he turns to look at the princess. "Better make haste with your quest, princess. The church is assembling an expedition team to Silver Keep now."
And with that, the thuggish henchman of Iris leaps out of the window.
Well... isn't that fine and dandy.
By the time Mein wakes up and refreshes herself for a new day, the Sword Hero's party and Gaelion is long gone. The armors for their own party is still not ready, and will be delivered to them when the supply caravan is fully assembled.
She joins her Naofumi, and the rest of the party for a light breakfast with the Count.
And by 'light', the princess means it by Midgardian standards. Their meal consists of potato bread, tomato soup, rabbit pill haunch, and more wheels of cheese than she can count, with lavender dumplings and juniper berry pastries for dessert.
It's good to be treated before her own station again. Not that she's proud of the nobles at Father's banquet, but after living as a vagabond for so long, she almost forgot what it means to live a good life.
The Schnee heiress and her noble friend did not attend with them, having opted to have their meal delivered to their rooms. Good! The undercover princess has no intention to put up with her arrogance before breaking her fast.
Naofumi turns to look at Raphtalia while they slowly eat. The raccoon girl in question is slowly sipping tomato soup, on her own plate is a rabbit pill haunch pressed between two pieces of potato bread. The Shield Hero smiles, cuts a thin piece of muffalo cheese and places it in her place. "Eat some cheese, Raphtalia. They are rich in calcium, and help you develop strong bones. You are about to hit your growth spurt any time now, right?"
The girl's body freezes up when her level boosted growth is mentioned. She slowly sets her soup bowl down with jerky motion, like a badly enchanted golem.
Raphtalia practically glares at the offending piece of dairy like it's the root of evil for a few beats. She cringes her nose, but places it in the middle of her sandwich like Naofumi instructed. The raccoon girl takes a small bite, and cringes her nose again. She murmurs in a low voice. "I don't like the taste of cold cheese. It's... yucky."
It's rather sad that this is the first time Raphtalia finally feels comfortable complaining about something since joining her Naofumi's party. She's still a child, yet she never voiced a single word of objection at having to track through the world and fight monsters together with the adults, or fight in a Wave after losing her parents in another.
Mein reaches over and runs her hand through the raccoon child's hair, making sure her hands stay away from the girl's ears.
"See, Father? She gets it!" The count's only daughter promptly tosses her own bread back onto the plate and kicks back his chair. She crosses her arms in front of her chest and pouts at her father.
"Courtesy, Dagny! Do not act like an uncivilized hooligan in front of a Legendary Hero." The count looks up from his meal to reprimand his daughter.
Naofumi rubs his chin, looking thoughtful at the wheels of cheese for a moment before turning towards Lord Balgruuf. "Do you mind if I borrow your kitchen, Jarl Balgruuf?"
The Shield Hero certainly has taken to the count's Midgard heritage, despite his initial confusion.
"Of course not." The count nods his head at the Shield Hero. "Would you rather instruct my own kitchen stuff though? Working in the kitchen you yourself is surely below your station."
"I like cooking, it helps me calm my nerves and relax." Naofumi smiles as he collects a few pieces of sliced bread and cheese. A servant leads him to the side of the room opposite to the mage's workshop.
Not too long afterwards, Naofumi comes back out with his plate with stacked slices of bread. The princess notices the melted cheese in between them. "Try this, Raphtalia."
"Okay." Raphtalia picks up a piece of bread with melted cheese from Naofumi's plate. She brings the food to her mouth, stays still for a few short seconds before taking a small nibble. The girl blinks a couple of times and takes a big bite. She turns her head towards Naofumi, looking like she's about to say something before catching herself and swallows her food first. "It's good, Master Naofumi!"
"Really? Let me try it!" The bratty daughter of the lord flips right over the table and runs across the great hall, her open hand pointing towards a piece of bread on Naofumi's plate.
"Manners, Dagny! Do NOT make trouble for our honored guest!" The Jarl stands up from his throne to reprimand his misbehaving daughter.
"Oh, it's no trouble..." Naofumi looks at the Midgardian Lord and holds his hands up.
Mein quickly slips out of her seat, sneaks behind Raphtalia to pull at Naofumi's sleeve. She leans closer and whispers into his ears. "Don't interrupt the lord while he's disciplining his daughter. You'll set a bad precedent, and make the girl learn the wrong lesson."
Naofumi turns around to look at the princess in disguise. His eyes turn around a little before nodding back to Mein and stays quiet.
"I'm sorry, Father, Sir Shield Hero." The girl drops her head down. Mein is willing to bet she didn't take Lord Balgruuf's discipline to heart, judging from her twinkling eyes. "May I have a piece of the bread, Sir Shield Hero?"
"Yes, you may." Naofumi smiles again and holds his plate forward, letting the noble girl snatch away a piece of bread.
Dagny bites into the bread, as her eyes quickly grow large. She whips her head around to shout at Balgruuf. Her words are hard to make out, while bits of bread crumbs spitting out of her mouth. "IT'S good, Fath- er! Teash ur cook!"
"Manners, Dagny. Don't speak with your mouth full."
Nothing worth of note happens afterwards, her Naofumi did leave a note teaching the Count's cook how to make his melted cheese bread. Written by her hands, of course. She probably should slip a copy to her cook as well, once she reclaims her birthright from her younger sister, of course. It simply won't do if others see her Naofumi cooks for her after he becomes her consort.
They excuse themselves afterwards to wander the town of Trumpet before the caravan is ready to leave. Naofumi points at the goddess statue at the foot of the fountain in the Wind District. "What's the story behind the statue?"
Mein looks at the statue. It depicts a woman in plain and tight cloth, with flowing long hair and a youthful but regal face.
"Officially? She's the Lady, right hand of the Chief God and his consort. Goddess of Faith, but many have taken to worship her as the Old One, Goddess of the Wave, Destruction, and Change." Naofumi's new sworn shield points out at the small garden at the statue's feet. "See it doesn't have any altar at the base? If she truly is the Lady, there would be a downward sword altar. And both the Lady and the Old One are depicted as beautiful women with long flowing hair."
"The sworn enemy of the Chief God, and the Heroes of Old." Éclair's voice is almost low enough to qualify as hiss, a rather rare showing of the normally gallant knight. Right, as a faithful knight devoted to the Chief God and the Heroes of Old, the Old One is her sworn enemy.
"They have a goddess dedicated to the Wave? As in, the Wave of Catastrophe?" Naofumi's head cock to the side, his eyebrow rises towards his hairline. The young man shakes his head afterwards. "Well... I suppose it would have its own god, like all the gods dedicated to natural disasters from my world."
"The Old One, I haven't heard that name for a while. Doesn't the Church forbid her worship, seeing her as an enemy of the Chief God or something?" Kyubey nods his head along, he turns to look at Farkas. "I heard she's more openly worshipped in Siltvelt?"
"Only in Skyguard. We pay our tribute to the old gods like the Old One, Gaia and the World Eater, unlike all you southern milk drinkers." The werewolf snorts in disapproval.
"If she's the goddess behind the Wave, why do people worship her?" Naofumi looks at a girl walking over to the statue, laying some flowers and berries at the Goddess' feet, closes her eyes and hangs her head low. "Wouldn't she be some kind of evil goddess?"
"Some people pray to her out of fear, hoping to be spared in the Wave of Catastrophe, of course. But others genuinely worship her as their patron god." The desert nomad looks up to the head of the goddess, Mein notices the slight frown showing on his face. "As her domain includes change, some associates her with social status change, hoping her favor help them climb to higher standing. And many others have taken it as a sign that the Wave of Catastrophe is a test to see if the world is worth preserving or not, a precursor to the World Eater devouring a corrupted old world so a new one can be born. The counter to Chief God representing preservation."
"Ah... so it's similar to Hindu religion where Shiva, the God of Destruction is the most well worshipped god of the three." Naofumi runs his fingers on his chin while nodding his head along. He looks up at his sworn shield. "I take it you don't agree with the sentiment?"
The tan skinned giant stays perfectly still for a few beats before slowly shaking his head. "Change isn't always better. I prefer to appreciate the good things I have... and protect them like the Chief God."
"Yeah. Change isn't always good. And Wave of Catastrophe isn't a good thing!" Raphtalia was almost screaming near the end, no doubt reminded how her parents were torn apart in the first wave. "The Old One took away Mama and Dada... the Lady is much better."
Mein quickly kneels down and wraps an arm around the shaken girl. Naofumi obviously has the same idea and their arms interlock around Raphtalia. "We'll do our best to protect this world and everyone. The next world can fight for itself. I am the Shield Hero, after all."
The girl sniffles for a bit longer till she nods her head. "I'm glad I met you, and big sister Mein."
"I'm glad I met you too." Naofumi smiles and runs his hand through Raphtalia's hair, and starts to pet her fluffy ears.
"You... really shouldn't do that, Sir Shield Hero." Éclair's helmet tilts down to look at Naofumi, her voice stern and disapproving.
"What, comforting someone?"
"No, sorry. I mean petting a demi-human's ear... or tail." Éclair's index finger twitches on her hand. She looks like she wants to point at Raphtalia's animal like feature, but stopped herself to be polite. "They are sensitive, and should only be touched by parents... or a lover."
"Oh." Naofumi's face jerks down to look at the fluffy ear he's still running his fingers through. The young man bolts up like he's being thrown by a catapult, with a rather similar result. He loses balance on his footing, and would have fallen right over the side of the staircase into the fountain below if his bodyguard didn't grab onto his arm. "Sorry, Raphtalia. I, I didn't know..."
"I don't mind." The girl places one hand on the ear where Naofumi's hand was a moment ago. "It's like what Dada used to do."
"Right, right..." Naofumi lets out a nervous chuck as he turns around to continue his walk down the staircase. He almost missed a step again, but catches himself this time. "Let's just... sit down by the crepe tree for a bit. Get some fresh air... and we'll go get our cart and Firo from Burden's Rest."
"Good idea, Master Naofumi." Mein nods her head and slowly stands up. She looks over at Kyubey and Raphtalia, both with hilariously oversized Midgardian broadswords strapped to their sides. "I'll take Kyubey and Raphtalia to the Smithy by the gate, Master Naofumi. We need to go exchange our weapons to something that'll fit us better."
Especially now that she knows the Church of the Three IS going to Lord Seatto's ruined keep. There's a good chance even if they manage to recover the artifact, they'll have to fight through the Church's expedition force afterwards.
"Yeah, that's a good idea." Naofumi looks up and nods his head. "Do you need the coin pouch?"
"No, we'll be alright, Master Naofumi. We are only going to do a weapon exchange." The princess shakes her head.
"Take the scales, at least. You guys might as well have something custom ordered." Naofumi takes half a dozen Gaelion's scales out of his shield and hands them to Mein. "We have to prepare for the next Wave."
That's actually a good point... but no doubt, a lot of seasoned adventurers, or even nobleman's children will faint with foamed mouths at the Shield Hero's nonchalance at handing out high grade crafting materials. They may be low grade scale as far as dragon emperor goes, but they are still the scales of a dragon emperor!
With that, she parts ways with Naofumi as she takes Kyubey and Raphtalia towards the gate.
The city is clearly less stressed out with the immediate threat of a possible shouting Dragon Emperor, and his non-existent dragon flight gone. Fully armed guards no longer patrol the street every three steps, even if all the filled buckets and pots are still not cleared out from the street. A few residents walked towards Burden's Rest or the crepe tree Mein just came from, relaxed jumps obvious in their steps.
As for the guards themselves, they are clearly still busy. Six filorial wagons are being assembled in the main street in front of the gate and the guard house. Muscle bound laborers loading barrels and sacks of preserved food from the town granary onto the wagon. The buckets of water have their use, as some of the guards and commoners dips cut cloth into them to help wash off the sweat they work up.
The princess stops paying attention to the guards and laborers and turns her attention to the other side of the main street. Unlike the count's personal workshop, the smiting area of Queen's Blade is outside of the shop itself. A woman in armor is currently working on the bellow to heat up the forge.
Or rather, calling what she's currently wearing 'armor' is very generous. It looks more like two pieces of armored aprons sewed together into a leotard that's a good three sizes too small for the woman's figure and... by the heroes of old, those are LARGE!
"Ah, there we go." The woman's voice perks up as charcoals inside her forge turns red. She seems to finally realize someone is behind her, as she turns around and smiles at Mein and her two demi-human companions. "If you are looking for something, you better go inside my shop. This is only the working area."
So what if this ... this hag has a bigger bosom than her? That's the body of a midwife, or even a wet nurse! This woman has nothing over her own perfect hourglass figure!
"Is there something on my face? Soot, maybe?" The female smith runs a hand over her face, and looks down at her fingers. Her brow twists into a frown at the absence of the black powder on her fingers. Her face quickly relaxed not too long after. "Ah, you three must be the Jarl's guests! Adriana mentioned you in her message. I'm Cattelya, the smith of Queen's Blade. Sorry, I can't leave my forge, but I'm sure Ulfberth can help you with what you need. Do you want to go check the shop first, or do you have something specific in mind?"
"We'll check the shop." Kyubey's voice comes from behind. Mein hears the opening of the door not long after while her feet are planted in the stone tiles like roots.
"I'm guessing you want something custom made then?" The muffalo woman with a balloon like bosom smiles at Mein.
"Well, yes..." Mein's body jerks awake. She coughs into her hand trying to hide her embarrassment. Her Naofumi did give her six pieces of dragon emperor scales. Which means she can afford something at the pinnacle of Common Level range at the very least. "What weapons can you make?"
"Oh, I make all sorts of weapons, armor too. Swords, axes, maces..." The smith turns around and starts to work her forge once again. "Styles from all over the world too. The old seven kingdoms, Melromarc, Zeltoble and Siltvelt. The one style I'm no good at is the newer Faubley style weapons. These hands aren't made to craft delicate transformation mechanics."
Cattelya holds one of her hands up, and Mein notices her hand is noticeably larger than most men. She briefly wonders if the female smith with the body fit for a midwife has some beastman blood in her.
Sure, she doesn't have beast ears or tail, but they could have been cut off by her beastman rapist of a father, or mother. Those Siltvelt animals are known to do that back during occupation, on account of them considering their children with humans to be weak and impure.
"No, I don't want a Faubley weapon myself. Like you said, too delicate, easy to break." Mein chuckles together with the female smith, managing to find some common ground with the older woman.
The princess begins to pounder what kind of sword she wants. Something to put the Schnee's mechanized rapier to shame, for sure. It'll obviously have to fit her fighting style, since she's obviously still going to stay undercover as an adventurer for who knows how long besides her Naofumi.
A weapon that's both a light sword to utilize Aldori style, and a catalyst to help her magic: A sword wand. The blade of a sword, fitted onto an enchanted hilt that can serve as a catalyst like a magical wand. She briefly considered the blade of a good old Melromarc styled straight sword or rapier, then she remembered the warning from Henchmen Number 2. The Three Heroes' Church is fast approaching them, and they will very likely have to fight them over the Seatto heirloom.
"You mentioned you can forge Siltvelt swords? Can you make a Siltvelt Midland Treasure Sword? On an enchanted hilt that'll work like a wand?"
The kind of weapon Aldori Style was originally used with, or rather, the original Nine Forms of Solitude used by the 8th Sword Hero to challenge and supposedly beat the world's best fighters and heroes, before the Aldori Sword Lords modified the style to be used by rapiers and epees.
"Ah, you mean a 'Jian'. A duelist's weapon." Cattelya turns around to look at Mein. "The blade's much thinner, and lighter than most Melromarc swords, but shouldn't be too difficult with quality steel."
"I want the soft kind." Mein holds up the index finger of her hands. She runs her hand from her back around her waist till her fingers meet at the front. "The kind that'll wrap around your waist like a belt."
"A 'Ruan Jian', in that case. That complicates things." The smith puts down her hammer and runs her finger on her chin. Her frown is back on again. "You need a metal that's both soft, but also resilient. Can't be common castle forged steel. Mithril, and a mix of some other metals. I'm thinking Star Marrow to help draw mana from the Endless Aether if you want it to be a sword wand... it won't be cheap."
"Are these scales enough to cover it?" Mein pulls out the scales she got from her Naofumi and hands them to Cattelya to look over.
"Scales from a dragon emperor... not exactly top quality, but still hard to come by." The smith looks over each piece and sets them down on her workbench. "Should be able to cover your cost. Considering the blade you are thinking of is smaller than most Melromarc sword's blades. I'll do my best to have your sword made before the next Wave."
"Thanks, I'll go check my companions." Mein shakes hands with Cattelya to indicate a business well done. She turns around and walks into Queen's Blade.
The mostly wooden Midgard style building is sparse in decoration. A wooden counter on the other side facing the door, weapon racks and armor stands lined up against walls.
Kyubey already picked out a brand new steel rapier to replace his old iron one. As for Raphtalia... she's trying to hold and swing a similar weapon like Kyubey in his spar with Éclair. Keyword being trying, as the girl would have tripped head over heels if Kyubey didn't grab the back of her collar at the last moment.
"Wow, easy there kid. You don't want to hurt yourself." The bear-like man in a suit of iron plate behind the cover walks around his counter. The bearded Midgardian looks ready to lend Kyubey a hand if Raphtalia falls over again. "That weapon is way too big for you. You want to try a dagger, or a short sword?"
That's obviously the wrong word to say to the raccoon girl. Her ears droops down on her hair, mouth quivering. "I don't want to be a deadweight to Master Naofumi. Everyone else fights, even Firo. And she's younger than me! All I do is hide all the time."
"We aren't monsters, Raphtalia. No matter what some think of us." The rabbit man turns his head and looks at Mein for a brief moment. The princess briefly wonders if she happens to be part of the 'some' Kyubey is mentioning. "A filorial should grow up faster than you, even with the maturation boost."
Well... she probably is. But it's still a rather rude thing to imply to someone who's been fighting alongside you for almost a month now.
"You aren't dead weight, Raphtalia. Remember our fight with the One Bag Bandits? We would have lost to their leader, if you didn't throw Master Naofumi's Sham-" Mein peeks at the shop owner for a split second before continuing. "Master Naofumi's potion at their leader and distracted him. How about a sling, for that matter? It's a bit of a simple weapon. Some children even play around with them like toys. But they can be deadly when used by a master slinger, and it'll help you throw potions further."
"A... sling?" The demi-human girl looks up at Mein. Her head slowly dips down as she nods along. "Yeah... I saw Keel play with it back, back before the... Wave."
The princess and the former slave girl both cringe at the mention.
"Yes, a sling can help round out our party with a ranged weapon. And it can even help Raphtalia throw potions further once she becomes skilled with it." Kyubey also nods his head at Mein's suggestion. He places his good hand on Raphtalia's shoulder. "It's a good weapon for Raphtalia too, since it doesn't draw blood, and she doesn't have to trade it for a new size when she grows up like a bow. Although she won't master it right away."
"Yeah, I smacked myself on the head once when I tried to play it. But I'll learn how to use it this time." The girl's expression becomes serious as she balls up her fist. "I want to help everyone fight."
"You are already helping plenty, Raphtalia." Mein runs her hand through the girl's hair again.
"Tell you what, I'll even throw in some special pellets for you this time, as a favor for saving our town." The shopkeeper Ulfberth walks behind his counter and bends over. He puts three sacks on the wooden surface. "First bag are the regular pellets. Second sack are fire pellets. They aren't strong as an alchemist fire, but they still pack a punch. Third sack are frost pellets. Don't expect them to actually freeze your enemy solid, but should make it hard for them to move around. Practice the sling with some pebbles first before you move onto the special pellet. You don't want to throw or smack them right into your own face."
The sling itself looks rather plain with its brown, tree bark-like braid. The princess gives it a gentle pull, decides it's probably a mix between muffalo wool, and some more wooden material. She hands the sling, pouches of pellet to Raphtalia while Kyubey grabs her a short steel sword off the weapon rack.
The girl fits her new equipment around her cloth and hops up a few times. Probably checking how she balances herself with all the added weight. She gives them all a nod of affirmation afterwards. "Aren't you getting a new weapon too, Big Sister Mein?"
"I already got a steel sword." Mein shows Raphtalia the sword she gained from one of the dead Four Heroes' Church knights. Thankfully, it's a reliable traditional Germania design and not an over-engineered Faubley mess. "And I commissioned a new sword wand with the blacksmith. It won't be ready till we come back."
Raphtalia nods her head as they hand in their older iron weapons and their oversized Midgard steel broadsword to the shopkeeper. The three of them leave the weapon shop, the princess notices the guards and laborers are already onto the final cart now.
Mein takes a look at Naofumi's new estate right next to the busy workers.
It's a humble looking two storey wooden structure, with a small, empty patch of dirt that can turn into a garden to grow crops or alchemist reagents outside. Judging from the size, Mein is willing to bet the dining room of their summer mansion to the south is larger than the entire structure. Not exactly an estate fit a Legendary Hero, or a future duke. But she assumes everyone has to start somewhere.
"So, rubbing shoulders with the nobility, huh?" They can hear the voice of Zylden when they are still a good block away from LeFou's inn. "I'd say I envy you, except I don't. Had enough of that before Daddy Dearest kicked me out of his keep. I miss the drinks and women I got with Daddy's coin pouch, the problem is everything else attached to it."
"Oh, yeah. Your father is some big shot noble like Peter Dinklage from A Song of Ice and Fire, right?" Naofumi is sitting against the well in front of the small market square in front of Burden's Rest. "Is he also a Lord Paramount?"
The princess notices only Naofumi's new Sworn Shield is standing beside him, while Éclair and Farkas are nowhere to be seen.
"Peter Dinklage? Didn't the other Imp of Casterly Rock have a different name?" The gnome scratches his head with his free hand, the other hand already has a wineskin in the morning. "What was it you said when we met? Timothy Lancaster, was it?"
"Nonono, Tyrion Lannister." Naofumi stands up and shakes his hand. "Tyrion Lannister is the name of the original character. Peter Dinklage is the actor who portrayed him in the TV series ... think of it as a play you tune in again and again for half an hour every day to follow up a very long story. His portrayal of Tyrion is so good, I start to see him whenever I read the original book."
Mein can't figure out why a theater would bother dressing up their actors in make-up and tailor made costumes, set up the stage with props only to hold a thirty minutes of play. And doing something like this every day sounds like madness.
"Okay, sounds like a charming guy like me. I suppose a life of theater isn't a bad choice, if I didn't have my aptitude for arcane research. Better than being a politician, at least." The imp tilts his side and rubs his chin. "So long as he doesn't play women on stage. Did you know they used to castrate little boys with pretty faces to play girls, so they don't change their voice and grow a beard when they grow up? Because 'theater stage is sacred and can't have a woman stand on it'. That's why one of the oldest tailor brand stores here in Melromarc is called 'Royal Castrate'. They started out make dresses for the castrated actors playing for the royal theater."
"WHAT!?"
"Oh, don't be dramatic, Shield Hero. They stopped doing that over two centuries back when Queen Evangeline came into power. Not enlightened enough, she thought." The half-man waves Naofumi's indignation away with a shake of the hand and pops the stopper of his wineskin. He takes a swig before continuing. "Well, I don't know about the father of Peter, or Tim, or whoever. But My Lord Father Charles Dance Von Balveproven is the Shepherd of Westland."
"A 'Shepherd' is the Faubley equivalent of a Melromarc Lord Paramount. The high lord put in charge of an entire province." Seeing the confused look on Naofumi's face, Mein quickly shuffles over and explains the terminology to him. "And Westland is the third largest Faubley province after Germania and Tristan."
"GUAH!" The clunking sound of a filorial cart and the crook of the bird from Burden's Rest stable turns everyone's head, and the filorial at its head isn't Wolfgang. The white bird still has mixed colored feathers at the tip of her wing, but has grown into her full sized glory. Firo looks almost smug that she's finally pulling her own cart.
Speaking of the filorial from Lute and his owner, the two of them walk out of the stable side by side after Firo. Gaston jogs up to Firo's side and gives her head a quick swipe. The bird squawks back at him with annoyance. "Your bird looks healthy and strong now, Shield Hero boy. She'll be able to pull your cart from now on."
"Aw... would you like it yourself now, Firo. Who's a wonderful Chocobo? Yes you are, yes you are!" Naofumi walks up to his bird, cups her head with his hands and scratches her neck. The bird coos happily at her owner's attention and nibbles at his hair. The Shield Hero turns to Gaston next. "Are you going back to Lute now, Gaston?"
Gaston looks at his own bird as he scratches the bigger bird on the chin. "I think me and Wolfgang will stick around for your quest. You are going to cut through the Bitch Lord's territory, if you want the fastest route to the old Seatto keep. Helps if you have a seasoned ranger and tracker."
"Gaston is right, Master Naofumi. None of us are trained rangers. Without him, we won't see an ambush till we walk right into it." Mein walks up to the Shield Hero to give him an affirmative opinion.
Wait. Did the dumb bird's eye twinkle while smirking at her?
The next thing she knows, the princess feels the entire world is spinning around her while countless tiny baby filorials seem to fly around her head, chirping up a cacophony of noises. Her entire body also explodes with pain. "I think... someone ran me over, with their filorial cart. Did anyone... got their family crest?"
After the world stops shaking, the first thing the princess realizes is her already scorched traveling robe is now stained with smashed apples. The second thing she notices is street peddler screaming murder at her Naofumi, or rather, his bird. And Naofumi furiously nodded his head in apology while dropping coins into the hand of said peddler. Guards start to walk towards them from every direction, probably to check out the commotion.
That's when she realizes she DID get run over by a filorial cart, or rather, she got kicked straight into a market stall by one.
Raphtalia quickly runs towards her, an uncorked health potion in hand. Gods and heroes of old bless the little girl, she's always so eager to help. Unlike a certain other member of their party, who might as well be some demon incarnate.
"You. Gluttonous. Devil. BIRD!" Mein holds her hand up towards Raphtalia, indicating there's no need to waste a valuable healthy potion they can save for fighting, or exchange for coins. She slowly stands up from the cracked and splintered market stall as she pulls her sword out. "I don't care if we have to raise a filorial from the start again. I'm carving you up RIGHT NOW!"
"NO! Don't kill Firo!" Naofumi quickly wraps his arms around Mein's sword arm, trying to wrestle away her sword. "She's still a child who doesn't know better!"
"You really should listen to your party member, Lord Shield Hero." One of the guards shrugs his shoulder and agrees with Mein. She probably should learn the man's name so she can put in a word of recommendation to the count. "Your bird is clearly vicious, if it attacks one of your own for no reason. It'll get you into more trouble, best to put it down. It's a garden variety raised for their meat and feathers anyway."
Firo is about to run across the street, pulling the cart right after her to attack the guard in question. A quick snatch of her saddle from Gaston puts a stop to that. The veteran hunter wrestles with the bird for a few moments till he brings her to heel with some help from Wolfgang and Naofumi's new Sworn Shield.
"No, we aren't killing anyone today!" Naofumi drops his coin pouch onto the guard's hand. "Look, I'll pay for all the damage, and I'll discipline Firo. But I'm not killing her after raising her from an egg."
Which is still less than a week's time. Her Naofumi's sentimentality is really getting to the better of him.
The guard gives Naofumi a long look behind his full helmet, he shrugs again. "Alright, but make sure you keep it in a tight leash. Thane or not, we really don't need your bird going on a rampage after we just avoided one from a dragon."
"Well, you better discipline her well, Master Naofumi." The princess returns her sword back to its sheath and walks besides Naofumi. She crosses over her arms in front of her chest. "You are lucky Lord Balgruuf named you his champion last night, or else we won't get off this easily. And may the Chief God have mercy on her, if she hurts the wrong person."
"Do you know what you did wrong here, Firo?" Naofumi walks in front of his still flailing bird. He squats down right in front of Firo and taps a finger on her forehead. "No more desserts till' the next Wave on top of your diet!"
That's not exactly what Mein has in mind, when she thinks about a stern punishment. Then again, it is the gluttonous devil bird, so maybe it's appropriate.
It's not like she knows what benefits good discipline. Not when her father never even slapped her on the wrist, and Mother pretty much left her to her own device after trying to barge her off to her uncle.
The bird lets out a howl that can be described as pure agony and despair as her head drops lifelessly on the stone road.
"Where is Éclair, and Farkas, Master Naofumi?" Mein looks around, still not seeing the knight and the beastman after all the commotion around the marketplace.
"Oh, Farkas is training the Jarl's men to blow some steam." Naofumi points his hand up towards the Dragonsreach again. "And Jean asked Éclair for some pointers on how to fight."
Mein blinks her eyes a couple of times at the unfamiliar name. "Who's Jean?"
"The servant of that Reichnott girl we just met last night." Naofumi turns around to look at Mein. His finger slides across his chest. "You know, the guy dressed like a priest. Having a cross on his chest and two chain chomps... no, orange balloon shaped pauldron on his shoulders."
"Ah! Right, him." Mein quickly nods her head and shudders at the monstrosity on the boy's shoulder. At least they aren't alive, unlike the ones Naofumi still keeps in his cloak. "The guards and workers are almost finished loading their caravan. I'll go bring them down."
"They did? Guess we'll be leaving soon, hope our new armor is ready." Naofumi scratches his head as he looks down the road towards the gate. He looks back at Mein again. "Do you want to... I don't know, kick back and sit in LeFou's inn, or Breezehome and relax a bit? Firo did just kick you into a market stall. Maybe Kyubey can go get them."
"I'm not that delicate, Master Naofumi." Mein moves her shoulders up and down, feeling all her bones popping right back into place. She turns around and starts her track back up the stairs again.
To tell the truth, the princess doesn't want to stay near the blasted bird when she's cranky. Who knows what Firo will kick her into the next time? She's lucky she didn't fly right into Trumpet's stone wall when she doesn't even have her armor on.
In her haste to get away from Firo, Mein didn't notice Raphtalia is tagging along till she's halfway through the wind district and about to take the grand staircase. "Don't you want to stay with Master Naofumi, Raphtalia?"
The raccoon girl looks up and blinks at the princess in disguise. "I want to make sure you are okay."
Mein smiles and helps the girl smoothes out her hair again. "Good girl."
Raphtalia looks up and smiles brightly back at her.
The princess hears the yelling and pained grunts of men before she sees the training yard. Once she climbs to the top of the staircase, she realizes the seasoned beastman adventurer is wrecking absolute havoc on Lord Balgruuf's men. Farkas may be crippled, but he easily breaks through the Shield Wall formation the Midgardians are proud of by simply plowing through them at full speed.
The completely defense focused formation doesn't so much as falter, as completely crumbles under Farkas' assault. It seems like Farkas wasn't simply flattering the Sword Hero's knight companion when he complimented the burly knight for withstanding his charge.
As for the dishonored knight of their own party (technically their 'extended' battle formation party, but whose even counting), and the servant of her childhood friend... those two are in the opposite corner, where they have some peace and quiet away from the chaos.
The servant's form, from his footwork, to stance, to even the grip of his weapon is absolutely atrocious, to put things diplomatically. The young man... or rather, the boy is obviously younger than even her Naofumi. Probably around the age of the Sword and the Bow Hero, and he has a rather typical Gallia build of a boy of his age, judging from his name.
He's also not a fighter, judging from both his weapon of choice and his attire.
But the point is, he shouldn't hold his weapon worse than Raphtalia was holding that rapier back in Queen's Blade, considering he has bigger hands and a weapon of roughly equal grip. The poor servant can barely hold his rod steady as Éclair figuratively and literally runs circles around him.
"Aaahhh!" With how Jean is screaming, one would assume he's being relentlessly assaulted by Éclair. But no, the boy is actually charging at the knight in question. He raises his arm to ... do something. Maybe he wants to take a swing at the knight, or he's trying to do some kind of pre-emptive guard while barreling towards Éclair for a full body tackle.
Mein will never know, for his rod flies right out of his hand into the sky instead.
"I don't think he's a good fighter, big sister Mein." Raphtalia looks up and whispers to Mein. "I could probably beat him."
"You don't say?"
Éclair for her part, looks equally unimpressed with her feet barely apart, sword arm to one side instead of holding into a guard. "Are you going to hit me?"
"So, sorry. I..." Jean screeches into a stop right in front of Éclair. He didn't finish his apology as his rod drops right on top of Eclair's helmet and bounces back. The boy shows dexterity and agility unbefitting his clumsiness as he catches his rod mid air, and he swipes it right down to slap Éclair on the side of her helmet.
He's immediately disarmed and knocked on his arse when Éclair brings her sword back up. But still, that catch and swing was a remarkable show of his reflex. It seems like the servant of the young Reichnott is a clown, but he's also a diamond in the rough, if someone is willing to take time and train him.
It makes sense that Lord Reichnott won't let his daughter run around with only a hopeless idiot as her guard.
"You need to train your focus first, Jean. And learn how to control your fear before even thinking about learning fighting forms. You have great potential and good reflex, but it'll do you no good if you jump at your shadow all the time." Éclair shakes her head, indicating their private session is coming to a close. It seems the knight comes to a similar conclusion to Mein, although she's being far more honest and critical.
"Yeah, I know. It's just... everything's so scary now! The Bitch Lord constantly raids us. I heard she kidnaps children and feeds them to her dogs. And a beak thing runs around Silver Pass... they eat you alive. Not to mention there's a Wave of Catastrophe going on, where even Lord Seatto is killed and he survived the Great War." Jean wraps his arm around himself as he shakes and quakes on the dirt, completely unaware his trainer is flinching when he mentions her father's death. "But, but I'm my lady's sword and shield. I go where she goes, no matter how scary it is."
"Well, I think it's great you are caring for Cu- Lady Reichnott in spite of your fear." Éclair quickly catches herself before she gives away her identity. She picks Jean's rod from the ground, walks up to the boy and hands it to him.
"Really, you think so?" The boy looks up at Éclair.
"I know so. That's what happened to my - to House Seatto's ancestor Ariona the Heroic." Éclair helps the servant up to his feet and gives a pat on his shoulder. "You know the saying: only a coward can achieve the highest level of heroism, for they fight against their weak nature. Keep at it, I'm sure you'll improve both your courage and your skill."
"Thank you for the words of confidence, haha..." The boy starts to nervously chuckle as he scratches his head. His eyes shut down into a slide, mouth hanging wide open. The princess swears she even sees a trail of saliva running down to his chin.
How does a fairly decent, if not good looking boy manage to look even more like a lecherous old man than even the Imp of Casterly Rock when he laughs? The damn gnome has the face fit for an amphibian monster!
"Oh, Mein, Raphtalia!" Éclair turns on her heel as she notices the presence of the princess and the demi-human girl. "Is the caravan ready now?"
"They are loading the last cart!" Raphtalia runs forward two steps, holds her hands up on both sides of her mouth and shouts back at Éclair.
"Right, better get ready to leave then." Éclair turns her head to look at Farkas, who has all the training guards groaning on the yard by this point. "Let's go check up on our armor."
"Are you going up north, Lady Eclea? I heard the supply caravan is going to Balafon." Jean's face changes back to a serious look as he pats down his pants.
"Yeah, we are going up to the village of Balafon with the Count's supply caravan before continuing north into Silver Pass." The dishonored knight pauses briefly before continuing. "We are going to... pay our respect to the ruin of Silver Keep."
"Why do you want to go to Silver Keep? It's haunted now! Last I heard, the undead walk and crawl all over the place." Jean shivers at his own voice once again. His words make Mein exchange a quick look with Éclair.
"More the reason for us to go, if that's the case." Éclair's voice is stern, Mein notices her balled up fist. "The order of Silver Hand deserves better than having their soulless bodies reanimated, and hurt the living as their legacy."
"If you must go... I suggest you take the road away from the ruined Rabier County and take the long road through Ascart County. That's what my lady and Lady Weiss did when we travelled south." Jean looks down at his feet, he starts to draw out a rough map on the dirt with the end of his rod. "The Bitch Lord and her demi-human bandits got even more audacious after the fall of Silver Keep. They even rob large groups in broad daylight now."
The princess shares another long look together with the Seatto knight.
They pick up their dragon scale fitted armor up from the exhausted smiths of Lord Balgruuf and return to the plain district. The supply caravan is about to set off, judging by the rabbit demi-human sworn shield sitting on the first cart, and the now-opened front gate.
Likewise, the Shield Hero is settling back into his own wagon with the rest of his party and Zylden. Gaston sits on Wolfgang as the dark bird trots alongside Firo's cart.
LeFou quickly runs past the princess, and hands a still steaming pie into Gaston's hand. "Here, have an apple pie before you leave, Gaston. Amelie made it for you this morning."
The hunter looks down at the treat in LeFou's hands. He gives his old buddy a heavy slap on the shoulder before taking it off LeFou's hand. "Thanks, old buddy. Always looking forward to it."
"Just be careful, Gaston. I know you already survived a Wave of Catastrophe, but I heard bad rumors from up in the north. Demi-human bandits burning villages, raiding towns. Dead walking ... bad stuff is happening in Silver Pass." The stout man's shoulder droops as his head hangs low. "I'd come with you, help watch your back. But I can't leave my family, and I was never a good fighter like you."
"Hey, don't worry about old Gaston, LeFou. I watch over the Shield Hero's back, and they all have my back in term." The proud hunter balances the pie on the fingertips of his right hand as he flexes his massive bicep of his left arm. "Plus, don't forget who you are talking about here. I survived a tussle with a Siltvelt Lord, I can survive everything."
"Yeah, I suppose you can." LeFou laughs nervously as he looks up. "Take care, Gaston."
"LET'S MOVE IT, PEOPLE!" The shouting of the demi-human sworn shield indicates the caravan is moving out. Mein quickly helps Raphtalia climb up into the back of Naofumi's wagon while Éclair tosses the armors in. The two of them climb in themselves right after, while Farkas sits down on the front together with Kyubey again.
After a good night's rest in Lord Balgruuf's keep, their journey towards the Seatto ruins resumes again.
End Note
I have to admit, giving Raphtalia a sling was sort of a spur of the moment idea when writing this chapter. Although I didn't want her to just be a swordman with a touch of illusion magic in my story from the beginning. One, because it's kind of boring, and more importantly, with Malty staying as Naofumi's first companion and Eclair joining their extended team, having Raphtalia still fight with a sword doesn't make her stand out. Especially with her staying in her 'traumatized child' phase much longer in my story, because Lawful Good Pure Naofumi is going out of his way to cuddle her than forcing her to fight for him.
I think a sling compliment her being an debuff item tossing flanker/skirmisher works nicely.
guest review time.
To A Person:
The only thing I can say about my absolute fetish to pop culture reference is this: I am so, so sorry.
Having a lot of easter egg reference in my story no doubt distract those who want to read a pure RotSH story and doesn't care for all the easter egg shout outs to other franchises. And there are suggestion with me changing some of the details to essentially turn them into OCs (which I did do to some character... I'm pretty sure nobody realized Baron Elric the Green Thumb is originally based on Skyrim character Erik the Slayer). But keeping them as easy to recognize Easter egg reference help to get their backstory picked up by readers who are familiar with them, instead of me having to further digress my story (which is already on the extreme end of slow burn pacing) for a few thousands words to set them up.
Hope you can forgive my fetish, and still enjoy this story for what it does well.
And about this story being an Otome villainess insert instead of a villain protagonist... well. That's a funny story that spawn from my own incompetence.
I alluded in one of my previous note that my story had a major direction change early one of the earlier chapters. Originally, my plan really was a villain protagonist story where everyone mostly keeps their canon alignment and personality with more extended lore. Think of it as kind of like Allen Blaster's Hope of the Shield Hero. Except Malty is smart enough to stay by Naofumi's side instead of betraying him for short term gain (so I guess you can say Malty's alignment changed from Stupid Evil to Lawful Evil).
What made me change Malty from smart villainess to kind of a woobie is her flashback scene from chapter 4 because I forgot the king of Faubley was a wife killer. When I send me chapter to my co-writer Comrade Broseph, he asked me why the queen wants to kill her own daughter. No joke, I almost had a panic attack and gutted the entire scene, before he reassured me the scene itself still works.
Of course, as I start to write more and more chapters, and think about how all the politics in my story would work, I start to get more and more annoyed by canon, which is why I eventually went full [The Last Jedi], breaking characters' canonical alignment to tell the story I want to write.
Obviously, I can't tell how good this story might have been if I stayed my original course, but I definitely enjoy my current, new direction much more than my original vision (obviously, or else I wouldn't have go through the change). And considering Allen Blaster's story was just around the corner, I think it's fitting how everything turned out with Allen Blaster writing what some of the fandom dubbed the 'fix-fic' since they have much stronger admiration of canon, while I went full subversion/deconstruction with my more annoyance/disappointment of RotSH canon.
To Mewmew:
Same as A Person, I am so, so sorry for breaking the immersion of a RotSH story with my pop culture reference fetish.
To Guests:
I have a suspicion that when a lot of people thinking rapier (myself included), we are actually thinking about epees instead.
:P
Well, weapons are supposed to be used to kill people in the end, and heavier weight gives stronger momentum as long as the person in question can swing it.
Glad you are enjoying this story! I don't want to spoil too much about the relationship between Malty and Eclair, but I'd definitely say their relationship in my story is probably more unique within RotSH fandom so far. I'm not sure anyone thought about having those two develop any kind of connection before Commissar Gaunt inspired me to take this route.
:)
Yggdrasil medicine is actually from RotSH canon. Basically an upstart who try to take the turf from senzu bean.
To HeshGarlan:
Okay, I admit I didn't think about how an arcane based civilization would actually progress through their age (and how their technology progress would actually look on a graph compared to a scientific civilization), even though I thought they would eventually move pass medieval time into their own version of industrial age and space/information age based on some kind of magical technology.
The except to that is what The Wendigo King suggested in their review, if we actually have a world (or rather, multiverse) that's kind of like Forgotten Realm, which higher plane of existence aren't only prove to exist, the world also have limited interaction between each other (or at least in the afterlife). In this case, there's not much incentive to progress a society's technology level pass medieval age, since everyone would realize the society's whole strength is ultimately meaningless compared to what strength an individual would be able possess, and would likely push the would be exceptionally talented people who would have helped progress the society to look inward and seek self betterment and possible ascension.
Back to your theory, I think your theory of an arcane based civilization would progress differently because they'd have a top down approach to their own law of understanding how the world work (coming up with a theory, and then develop the branches) compared to our own scientific based society's bottom up approach (observe/accumulate the data and then come up with a theory).
I think you could most definitely write an interesting original book series out of this idea! Maybe a story that follows one, or multiple families at different point of an arcane civilization as it progress through the ages. And if you do go through, I'm definitely interested to read it as it sounds pretty unique an idea combining fantasy element with sci-fi element.
Editor's Note from AceTriad
I would like to extend my gratitude to HeshGerlan, DJman248, Lord Martiya, Avalon2077 , TheSinful, EDP, Argus, Dareth, SentinalSlice, WoodenStarfish, RonaldM40196897 and my fellow editor Angel Wraith for their enjoyment of my duel last time. I really appreciated it!
I also recognize that I tend to go overboard with the references. I will be gradually updating the ShoutOut section of this fic's TV Tropes page, so that if you recognize something familiar and enjoy a shoutout from the duel, you can chuckle at where it came from. I'll also try and hold myself back just a bit so that you guys can keep up.
On another note, I would like to extend a belated happy birthday to Sarah Emi Bridcutt, Malty's Japanese voice actress (which we missed because of the last 2 chapters). Hopefully she sees this fic and gets to enjoy it for herself.