Author's Note: Not a lot to say today, hopefully I'm gonna get some time off in the near future to start cranking out chapters. Read, Review, Favourite and Enjoy!
Chapter 70: The Town Destroyed by the Wave
Kyo wrote his notes in Japanese, yet more proof of his doubly otherworldly status, it was highly convenient for him as the alternative meant that he would have to try and translate the language of a world he has never been to before. He found the instructions on how to open the cage as Ikki came in with Trash.
"Naofumi and Setsuna?" Ikki asked genuine concern on his features.
"Went after the one who did this back to his world. Left me behind to un-fuck this situation and try to salvage something from it." Tatsuya casually waved Ikki off as he returned his attention to waking the woman in the tube.
"And this is?" Trash asked looking at the woman in the tube. "Important I assume, I would advise keeping those at the ready if she turns out to be dangerous." Tatsuya stated directing the group's attention to their legendary weapons. And on that note the pod open and the woman fell in a mess on the floor. Tatsuya aimed one of his Silver Horns at her and the weapon flew out of his hand just as Ikki caught it. "Well she's alive in any case."
"Not technically no." The woman moaned as she tried to stand up, the king sent two soldiers, one of whom was Eclair, to help her sit down on the cell she was being held in. "Though I do appreciated the thought." The woman moved her brown hair out from behind her back and Eclair jumped back immediately.
"Your Majesty! She has one of those parasites sticking out of her!" Eclair shouted already having drawn her blade to cut the other woman down.
"I would advise against that, the bow hero has already had to use regrowth on me several times this day as it is." The woman stated bluntly.
"So you're the Spirit Tortoise then." Tatsuya concluded bluntly.
"Better known as Ost Horai." Trash stated having instantly recognised the woman the moment he saw her. "A rather notorious seductress and trouble maker whose favourite hobby is to have nations and kings fight over her, my wife has made several unflattering comparisons to Ma-Bitch."
"Well she is pretty." Ikki commented idly. "I agree, which is something that should be impossible. I suspect magic of some kind, too subtle to be an outright illusion, a perception filter then." Tatsuya stated though Ost steered the topic back on track.
"'Over me' being the keyword." The Ost woman stated though both Ikki and Tatsuya were getting annoyed now. She could see that, so she decided to elaborate. "I am the Spirit Tortoise, one of the Four Directional Beasts of this world, final line of defence against the Waves of Calamity should the heroes of this world fall."
"Oh really? How are you suppose to do that?" Tatsuya asked brow raised in the air. "The term you are most familiar with is XP. I harvest XP until I grow strong enough that my sacrifice is enough to restore the barrier that protects this world, or if I should fall before I can do so then Ho oh in the South will take over from there." As if it received some cue the Hourglass that had been slowly draining into it's base disappeared. "Ah then it's already started."
"What has started?" Ikki asked looking at the empty space where the hour glass use to be. "Ho oh. They're waking up." Ost stated and the blood inside of the Heroes and Seven Stars veins ran cold.
"How long do we have?" Tatsuya stated mind already calculating how much of the world they would have to write off to fortify the rest from the other Directional beast.
"Three months." Ost stated causing the others to deflate like they were on the receiving end of a bad joke. "I gathered together enough XP to do that much before that asinine fool woke me up."
"Warn a guy before you say shit like that!" Ikki snapped the tension of the situation having gotten to him by quite a bit.
"Noted." Ost stated causing Tatsuya to get back to business.
"How much XP would you need to pull this off?" Tatsuya asked brow bearing down on the monster speaking through a woman's well preserved corpse.
"With the amount of XP currently in the world? About two thirds, although if I had woken up when I was meant to there would be more XP from the waves wearing down on the barrier protecting this world." Ost stated shrugging her shoulders.
"And the wars you apparently started?" Tatsuya asked a question that Trash very much wanted to know the answer to as well. "I govern the north: when death occurs there the killer receives a Tenth of the XP, as is their do, and I absorb the rest." Ost explained simply.
"And what better way to get that than war." Tatsuya stated cynically. "What does it mean for the people on the other side of the wave that all of their directional beasts have been killed?"
"It's impossible." Ost stated in a manner of fact fashion. "Even if all four of us were destroyed measures have been taken so that at least one of us would survive no matter what, and if necessary create replacements for the other corners of the world. That said the implications for them are... severe. Monsters will be born with enough XP in their bodies to reach adulthood instantly, they'll be driven made with hunger and blood lust to take what they need by force, which will only increase their XP Levels. Generations will fly by in as many days as the world enters a brutal new era of survival of the fittest. What's worst is that without anyone to prop back up the barrier it's rate of decay will sky rocket and the frequency and severity of the waves with it, introducing a vast number of invasive monster species into that world's eco-system. Until such time that a new Direction Beast can be installed that world will continuously draw other's to itself becoming a hole that sucks in other worlds and generates waves. That is what happens if the Four Directional Beasts are killed."
Terrifying, not half as terrifying as the possibility that what she said was completely true. But they would have to wait until Naofumi and Setsuna get back before they can confirm the state of that world. But first came first. "I believe I've said enough already, if you wouldn't mind removing the equipment that intruder set up here and your associate's little parasites from my body now I would like to enjoy going back to being sealed away for all eternity now."
"Quid Pro quo. Call off your pets." Ikki stated not forgetting the sight of the zombie yeti that Naofumi had apparently seized control of before he left for greener worlds.
"Is that all?" Ost closed her eyes for just too long to have blinked. "Done."
Tatsuya set to work removing the equipment. He found the vat full of genetic altering material that Kyo had set to feed into the Turtle's body intravenously and got a weapon out of it that would allow him to alter the genes of animal type monsters, definitely something he was going to give Rat. Containers containing embryonic fluid for more controlled genetic experiments: Rat again. Control device to keep the Spirit Turtle restrained and under Kyo's control, putting that away for later.
"I believe I found the machine Kyo was using to open up the barrier between the worlds." Tatsuya informed helpfully.
"That was fast." Ikki stated as he walked over to see what Tatsuya was talking about.
"It seems he was taking advantage of our friend's connection to the barrier between our worlds to open up holes that he could use to travel between freely." Tatsuya explained his chin in his hand.
"Can we use that to get Naofumi, Setsuna and the others back?" Ikki asked brow cocked in the air.
"I thought we would just wait until a wave opened between our worlds?" Tatsuya intoned unhelpfully.
"The waves won't trigger during the awaking process for a directional beast." Ost informed examining her manicure for lack of anything better to do until these two were done poking around in her body. "The awakening spits out a higher concentration of XP for the Barrier thickening it and reinforcing it in the process, in exchange though it costs longevity."
Hence why the enhanced barrier will only last three months.
"So in other words we do need this junk to get our people back?" Ikki assessed letting out a sigh.
"And this turtle. So if you wouldn't mind getting Rat to call off her parasites we can get the rest of this disaster under control." Ikki disappeared after muttering his usual body enhancing spell leaving Tatsuya alone with the King. "We need to get a handle on the refugee problem before it can spill out of control." Tatsuya stated the situation already outlined in his mind.
Vast hordes of people who have lost their homes and families means bandits, slavery and wars and he was not having any of it right now with three more of these apocalypse monsters on the verge of going on a rampage.
"In terms of places we can put them our options are limited." Trash replied having done similar a couple of hours ago.
"Funds to get them in place and food to feed them will be issues too." There was only so much non-monster infested land that could be farmed in the kingdom, taking in refugees also meant that they would have to eventually become actual viable parts of the kingdom sooner or later. "You four have done good work in this regard, only two areas in the kingdom have been made vacant by the waves..."
"One of which was done at the hands of your soldiers." Tatsuya stated not letting that fuck up fall on his shoulders alone.
"My point being that the only territory that we can keep a large concentration of them is that formerly belonging to the lord Seatto." Trash stated as he got back to the topic at hand.
"Father's territory? Are you sure?" Eclair had been to that area before and had seen the devastation that had been wreaked on the area. "With all do respect your Majesty..."
"I was deposed from the royal family, talk like that will get you written up for treason." The Former King stated as he took the liberty of emphasising former.
"...but I've been back home, the dogs destroyed everything and it will take months to get everything back into a semblance of working order." Eclair stated sharing her observations with the others.
"I see. You haven't been paying much attention." Trash stated bluntly.
"To be fair she's only been back in the fold for what like two weeks now?" Ikki followed up with a shrug of his shoulders having had enough time to grab some more food to snack on to deal with his raging metabolism.
"What are you people talking about?" Eclair asked but they had no time for formalities now.
"Before you go Sir Heroes." Ost held up her hand to the pair's weapons and a familiar glow radiated forward, unlocking over two dozen weapons that all started with the words 'Spirit Tortoise.'
"That should do for now." The group went outside where they talked to the turtle again and explained where Naofumi and Setsuna had went and the beginnings of the plan they had formed. There would be little that Siltvelt could take in, though in exchange they would be offering supplies.
"I'll work with Rat and Eclair to get the area ship shape." Ikki stated as he hooked Filo's carriage and wagons onto his Kirin to drive off to where they needed to be.
"Then I'll get to work on channels for the refugees." Tatsuya stated as he climbed onto his dragon's back.
"At a peak of curiosity: how?" Ikki asked looking at Tatsuya suspiciously.
"By taking advantage of a pre-existing system." Tatsuya flew with Rishia to Melromarc's castle town where the Slave Dealer had already been working.
"Hmm? Come to pay a visit have we Sir Bow Hero. It's been so long I was afraid you had forgotten about me." The Slave Dealer consistently proved to be a master of accumulating creepiness, on Miyuki acting like a shy school girl would be cute and endearing, on a middle aged midget ring master though it was horrifying to the point he nearly threw up but he was able to control himself.
"We have a refugee problem, assuming that you took note of the giant mountain that decided to go around trampling countries you should already be aware of this." Tatsuya stated as he made note of the stack of paper work next to where the creep did his business.
"The exact cause has eluded me yes. But there have been some enterprising lads who have taken note already though. The first shipment should be here in about two weeks." The little creep stated chin in his hand. "Until further notice, all such shipments are to be sent directly to the former Seatto territory."
Tatsuya stated, currently not troubled by the fact that he currently had no idea how he would be paying for that shipment. He really hoped that Naofumi and Setsuna would be back soon with some idea of how they would pay for this mess.
"An expensive undertaking Sir Hero, but manageable. You do still have those Karma Dog hybrid's from Cal Mira I've heard about yes? By my estimates they should be worth about twenty purebred slaves and thirty hybrids. Fourty of either if they're in bad condition." The dealer stated prompting Tatsuya to let out a sigh.
"Fine then, let me have a look at your wares. I'll also be needing monsters for transportation and field management. Something than can help us cloth all these people wouldn't be amiss either." In the end, after handing over three of the eggs in question, Tatsuya secured nearly sixty slaves and a dozen monster eggs. Three Filolials, two Caterpillands, three dunes, a Queen Bee and three giant spiders.
Eclair wasn't wrong: this place was a mess. The area had been picked clean of valuables, the buildings were in shambles, the fields were over run and winter was approaching. That Kyo bastard picked the absolute worst time to create a crisis and he knew it.
"Okay, need to get this situation under control." Muttering that Ikki rubbed his temples as they looked at their options.
"Can any of the buildings be used to make new ones?" Ikki asked looking directly at a contingent of soldiers the kingdom lent them for construction. The answer to that was a big fat nope and a collapsed wall after one of the soldiers lightly tapped one of the ruined buildings. "Right then. Rat you built a ship how about a couple of towns?"
"I'll need some space to work." Rat stated pointing at the ruined buildings in question. "Those are going to have to go."
"Ah destruction. Something that I actually can do. Ittou Shura X." To an outside observer Ikki appeared to twitch and all of the buildings were pulverised and removed. He even got a 'House Sword' out of the blatant pillaging which apparently reduced the amount of time he needed to spend resting.
"Your turn." Rat showed Ikki and Eclair the first of her camping plants, producing a simple one story tall house.
A good start, but Ikki figured they could do better. Through explanation and suggestion a modern bathroom complete with running water that smelled of fragrant herbal baths, a somewhat modern living room, three bedrooms and kitchen complete with functional stove made by splicing dragon materials into the mix and a fridge born of Penguin material were all added to the mixture. Which would be good, once they start trying to rebuild the four or five countries the turtle stepped on. In anticipation of the refugees they'd be taking in Ikki wanted to build them up but the camping plants would ultimately be limited in how tall they could grow by how much nutrition in the soil they received to do so, so instead he suggest building down into basements but that led to a similar problem of not enough soil for a proper foundation so he moved on.
"The other big name is going to be food, and our lack of it." Ikki looked over the fields and scratched his chin. He didn't really know what Naofumi was putting into those fruits but he assumed that you can't live off of nothing but them for the rest of your life. "For one thing these fields need to be tilled."
The dogs ripped out everything edible here, because evidently their were omnivores. The alternative meant that the Prick next door Setsuna apparently ate stole all of it, while not a impossibility didn't change the fact it wasn't there anymore. In place of edible crops there was a mass of hardened uneven soil with stone and weeds dotting in and around it.
"Well I guess that's going to be my job here too." As Ikki was about to tear through the fields with the shovel sword Rat stopped him.
"Before you do that Sir Hero, might I suggest putting together the fertiliser." Rat stated prompting Ikki to put his shovel into the ground and cock a brow at her.
"You want me to go out and fetch shit for the fields?" Ikki took a survey of the field in question. "All of em?"
"You are the fastest, and you have a pocket dimension in your weapon." Rat pointed out calmly.
"So do you!" Ikki replied indignant.
"I cannot make time stop on command." Rat pointed out in trade. "Huu." Ikki spent several minutes running all over the country side raiding outhouses until he he found what he was looking for. By the time the Sword Hero returned Rat had dug a sizeable pit with a wooden lean to built over it. "There I found your crap." Ikki dumped the contents of the sword into the pit before he left for one of the newly installed showers.
"That's good and all but sadly not enough." Rat stated and as Ikki was about to snap at her she opened up her own inventory and proceeded to dump contents out into the shit, leaves, crushed hoof, more shit and other material that Ikki had no idea the purpose for. "Good fertiliser needs to be engineered, processed and balanced for the best possible effect."
"Good to know. I'm getting a shower now." Ikki stated, which worked out fine for Rat as the first group from the castle town was arriving.
The Queen had sent her youngest, Melty, to act as administrator, for all her talk of being a noble woman Eclair was but an amateur in matters of state, but a child couldn't be much better.
"We've come from the castle town to administrate the area." Melty explained to a sceptical Ake.
"Aren't you a little young to be running a town?" To Ake's scepticism Melty had a look around at the town.
"So then I take it you're an expert at the administration of mid sized regions and kingdom law? Surely you would recognise this then?" Melty presented the scroll with the royal seal on it, and unrolling it further revealed the Queen's signature, and instructions in regards to the young Melty. Apparently she is to cut her administrative teeth by running this town in anticipation of the future.
"Right this way your highness. We haven't gotten any utility buildings done yet, unfortunate as it might be." Ake opted not to mention that Ikki had been too busy wading through shit.
"Take these to whatever store room you have prepared." Melty stated indicating crates full of food for the town, most of them perishables.
"I better take that to Rat." The mad scientist woman took to the crates with glee.
Splicing together the meat with the plants would at best be a waste, the fruits and vegetables on the other hand? That was a different story. So in absence of Ikki Rat had Ake take a shovel into his axe, spread the fertiliser, till the fields, and plant the crop. Combining together DNA from the fruits and vegetables resulted in several whole new varieties of bio-plants bearing all manner of edible plant life ranging from carrots that had no business hanging off of a tree like a apple all the way up to gravity defying watermelons. There would be no risk of food shortage or lack of proper nutrition from this corner.
"I have a question." Ake, covered in dirt, glared at Rat. "If you have a Seven Star weapon too then why am I the one doing the heavy lifting?"
As Rat was about to make an excuse one arrived on their door step.
"Because then the only person fit to tend to the sick and injured would be covered in shit right now." As Rat said that she went to the carriage Tatsuya took from the slave dealer filled with Wagons full of cargo which suspiciously looked like people.
"Any trouble?" Tatsuya asked looking around at the fields.
"Nothing that I couldn't handle." Which was true, in that Rat chose not to handle it and instead delegated work to her fellow Heroes. "The Queen sent her daughter over to administer the town, and our crop fields have been fixed up."
"Make these into proper working order." Tatsuya instructed handing over a bag full of monster eggs. "And see to it that the slaves are clothed and fed, soon."
"Yep you got it boss." Ah test subjects. Truly heroism was the gift that kept coming. First order of business, Rat set up a large scale shower area to clean the filth off of their bodies and while they were doing that Rat incubated the eggs to hatch. Once they were clean Rat administered a antidote for the diseases they no doubt collectively incurred in a combination poor living conditions and being packed tightly together while in captivity before assigning them work. "Those are what we're going to be living off of for the foreseeable future." Rat stated indicating the trees. "Pick them clean of fruit."
And so they did. Now than Tatsuya gave her a mutagen whip earlier, let's see what kinds of effects it has on these eggs.
Author's Note:
RonaldM40196867: Glad you like her. They're going to be learning Magic in steps mostly, with Liberation being the big one.
superpierce: Thank you for saying so.
Lia Angelique: Thank you for saying so! It's always good to see a new reader.
Guest: If it is it's not one I'm aware of. Though that does sound like something Rocket Raccoon would say.
Im4xsk1l: I wouldn't say best Shield Hero Fic ever, though I wouldn't be writing it if I thought it was a bad fic.
Dcraus: Sounds like a interesting premise, I'm looking forward to you writing it.