The Rising of the Four Heroes (Rewrite)

by Pretty Lazy

What if Naofumi, Motoyasu, Ren, and Itsuki all knew each other before the summoning? What if they were all good friends before they became heroes together? A rewrite of the existing story "The Rising of the Four Heroes".

23. Chapter 22 : Accessory

Chapter 22 / Accessory

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They regained the ground that they lost in backtracking to fix Motoyasu's mistakes and then added some more distance on top of that. There were still a few more villages they would have to have scheduled stops by, but Eclair was certain that within the week, they would be able to arrive at the borders. She hadn't exactly conjured a plan as to how to get through without much disruption, but she was hopeful that she would come up with something by the time they got there.

At the very least, they didn't have to plan out Sakura's food menu for those prior few days, considering how the people of Lerno provided her with literal carts filled with food as she requested. Even more so, she was having no problem pulling all of it in one chain despite Motoyasu's concerns if it was too heavy for her. By now, it was all empty and useless to them, but they still kept one of the carts because Naofumi suggested that it might be helpful in the future. Carts weren't exactly cheap, so they should hold onto a reasonable amount if Sakura was willing to pull it. They were able to sell the ones that they didn't need for a decent price.

As another day started for them, Naofumi found himself wandering the streets of Visna by himself. Usually, he would be accompanied by Raphtalia, but she wanted to get some training from Eclair to improve her self-taught sword style. After all, she never received any proper training for combat and she wanted to be a better sword for Naofumi's sake. Eclair was more than happy to lend her assistance and Naofumi left those two together.

Motoyasu and Sakura, on the other hand, were both grinding levels together. Apparently, Sakura was getting to the point where she could easily mow down weak monsters without even thinking too hard about it. Given the rates they were on, it wouldn't be too long until Sakura's levels started catching up to Raphtalia and Eclair.

Ren and Itsuki remained, but they decided to stay back at the inn. Itsuki wanted to sleep in for a bit longer while Ren… Once again, Naofumi wasn't sure what Ren was up to. It felt like recently, he'd been disappearing and reappearing whenever he wanted to do so whenever they came to rent rooms at a town for the night. Although he trusted that Ren was being safe, he was a little concerned about his friend. If there was something going on, he would have liked for him to share it with them, but it wouldn't like him to do so if he thought he could handle it himself.

That left him to simply stroll around, looking for anything in the markets that they could buy to help themselves out. With the payday they received from Lerno, they had some more leniency in what they could upgrade or resupply. Visna was bustling with merchants on the streets, so it might not have been difficult to find a deal that was good. He had gotten to know the price ranges of many products from jumping from town to town, so he could definitely barter for lower prices if needed.

In any case, this might have been the time to update his equipment. His original armour, the one bought by Ren and Itsuki, was somewhat completely broken up because of the duel he had with Motoyasu. They didn't have time to leave it for repairs, so Naofumi scrapped it to get some leather armour. It wasn't much, but for the time, it was what he thought was the best for now.

With the increased profits, perhaps this was the best chance to find a new suit of armour for himself. He was probably the only one that needed an update, considering how the others showed no signs of wanting to switch up their appearances right now.

As he parsed through the stocks and the window displays, Naofumi noticed somebody in the distance, carrying supplies with him. He was familiar, but he wasn't sure if it was the same person he was thinking about. Even so, he tried to call out to him with a wave.

"Erhart? Is that you?"

"Hmm?" The dark-skinned man turned, hearing his name be called and widened his eyes when he recognized the Shield Hero. "K-Kid, you're alright…?"

Naofumi caught up to the helpful blacksmith. Back in the capital, Erhart was one of the first people he met. Of course, it was because he was trying to sell Naofumi things, but even after the trial occurred and the rumours started to spread, Erhart retained his good image of Naofumi that he wasn't someone to try and rape his party member.

As if he was seeing a ghost, Erhart's eyes remained surprised. He wasn't going to strike up a conversation with the Shield Hero in the middle of the streets, so if he wanted to catch up, they needed a better place to do so. No one else seemed to have noticed Naofumis identity yet, so Erhart turned around and beckoned the incognito Shield Hero to follow him.

"I suppose this isn't a good place to speak. I'm staying with an acquaintance and helping him out with a few things in Visna. Perhaps that might be a better place to catch up."

"Yeah, I guess so."

As Naofumi closely trailed behind the big blacksmith, he could see that Erhart was being attentive of his surroundings. He was making sure that there weren't too many eyes on them as they travelled through the streets. Of course, that made Naofumi confident that Erhart was still an ally to them, even with all the terrible rumours that happened concerning the Cardinal Heroes.

When Naofumi first met Erhart, it was back on their first day out of the castle. He was brought over to Erhart's shop in order to buy some equipment for himself and despite the little mishap that happened with Ren there, he was able to hit it off with the owner. Thankfully, it was to the point where Erhart believed in Naofumi when he was accused of a rape attempt onto his own party member.

"If you don't mind me asking right now, what are you doing here? Don't you have a shop to maintain back in the capital?"

"Me?" Erhart glanced back briefly. "Yeah, of course, but a blacksmith needs materials in order to work on their products. I occasionally head out to Visna because it's such a spot for merchants to come to in order to find some of the better-end materials I'm looking for. It might be easier for me to send someone else to do it on my steed, but I like to observe the materials for myself before having it bought."

Naofumi's assumption was correct concerning the town.

Back in Odin Spirit, there was something similar to Visna in its game world. It was akin to a trading hub for the players and while people questioned why it wasn't located in the home capital of the game where new players started out, it made more sense once someone has been around the community for a while. It was a pretty cutthroat, but responsible, place for players and any newbies who would accidentally wander in would likely find themselves taken advantage of rather easily.

Though, Naofumi suspected that this wasn't the case here, obviously speaking. He never got too involved with the lore to remember the reason as to why the trading hub for merchant players had been there, but all he needed to know was that he was one of them. Thus, that was why he had the instinct to look around for himself whenever he had the spare time.

"Here, there are mostly merchants that come from Faulbrey, but there are the occasional merchants that hail from Shieldfreedan and Zeltoble as well. They mostly try to sell off their country-exclusive materials at a marked-up price, considering the distance they would have to travel to reach the town."

"Mostly Faulbrey merchants, huh?"

If that was the case, it was a sign that they were getting closer to the border.

Not that they needed one, considering they had a map, but it was good news, nonetheless. It was more of a physical proof that they were steadily approaching their target destination.

"Yeah, all they would have to do after crossing into Melromarc is go through the Ivyred territories and then a bit more in order to reach here. Though, I do recall that there was something going on there…"Erhart pondered for a moment, only to shrug it off as unimportant. "Anyways, it's not such a bad deal for me to partake in their wares, especially for me as someone who uses enough of their materials to come out to buy it, but not enough to want to cross the border for it. It isn't anything like the ores they get out of Zeltoble, after all."

Naofumi glanced to see the things that Erhart was holding. Just as he said, he was likely out on finding some materials for his blacksmith store and was in the middle of a haul. His muscles certainly made things look easy, carrying all of that with his arms. When Naofumi brought it up, Erhart laughed, saying he wasn't anywhere close to done yet. This was apparently something he caught his eye on while heading back from his lunch, needing to swoop it up before anyone else could get their hands on it.

Naofumi could certainly understand the feeling.

After some walking, Erhart arrived at a certain store. His acquaintance owned a shop in this bustling merchant's town, so it was rather convenient for him to ask for a favour and a roof over his head in exchange for some help in the shop. Apparently, his real base of operations was in Zeltoble, but he kept a location in Visna in order to keep connections and materials reeling in from merchant chokepoints. To Naofumi, it sounded like this acquaintance knew his way around the service.

Nevertheless, there was only one thing that was left to be worried on his mind.

"Are you sure he'll be alright with this?"

"Don't look so scared, kid. I know him enough that he'll be fine with your company. Besides, I've told him beforehand about how the rumours were misinformed without the real picture being involved and he had enough trust to believe me."

Erhart entered the store to the sounds of chimes. It was awfully familiar to what he remembered from Erhart's store, but the interior was different. There was only some space reserved for potential customers and a hallway that led down to empty rooms for conference. One of the employees from the counter noticed the blacksmith and waved to the big guy.

"Hey, Mister Erhart. Found something new there?"

"You bet." He lifted the bag with confidence. "I think I'll be able to bring this back to the capital to get some good revenue off of these if I make them into a sword."

"Good to hear." The employee glanced over, noticing the hooded figure behind the blacksmith. "And who's this? A friend of yours?"

"Yeah, you could say that." Although Erhart answered, he didn't keep the topic resting there for too long. "Where's your boss? Did he already head out?"

The employee nodded. "He was going to meet up with the adventurers that were to escort him back over to Zeltoble for tomorrow. The boss should be back within an hour or so. You need to talk to him about something? I can pass along the message if you keep sticking around."

"Eh, he'll figure it out by himself," Erhart chuckled. "I'll be heading over to the back quarters with my friend here."

Trying to keep his eyes away from the front-counter employee, he felt like he lucked out to see that they had been so relaxed in their job that they couldn't see through the hidden visage, nor did they even doubt the image for a moment. Or care too much, for that matter. For the sole reason that he was with Erhart, they didn't ask a single thing other than the relation.

Finding themselves in the backroom, Erhart placed the materials over to a corner where crates had been. He carefully placed them inside such that they would fit snuggly with the other materials that were already inside. As Naofumi closed the door behind them, a deep breath escaped his lips as he pushed off the hood on his head.

"How are things in the capital?"

"Could be better," Erhart answered, grunting as he moved the boxes around. "Ever since the rumours started flying around, it would seem like the Church of Three Heroes are taking a bit of a firmer grip of things, spreading the propaganda that the summoned heroes aren't the true heroes. You can say that the rumours probably originated from them."

"Not too hard to imagine, considering what the other guys said about that whole group."

Even though they were convinced that the Church of Three Heroes were their enemies, Naofumi still found it difficult to imagine that there were people that took their zealously absurd beliefs as truth. Though, if their words had the support of the king and the princess, it wouldn't be too difficult for them to not think critically of it and accept it as the truth.

If the capital was swarming with news like that, it was a good idea for them to get as far away as possible as soon as they could. He already thought the splashing rumours of the heroes had been bad enough within the towns along the outer areas of Melromarc, so he couldn't imagine how densely packed the misinformation could be in the heart of the country.

"I've heard that they've been sending knights out to various parts of the country in order to track you guys down. Did you have any terrible encounters as of yet?"

"Luckily, we haven't. We've been missing out on meeting those knights and I'm happy to continue that streak for as long as possible."

"You should probably try and get out of the country as soon as possible. I don't think the situation is going to get any better if you decide to stick around and tough it out."

"That's what we've been trying to do." If they weren't so intent on trying to multitask their strength from levels and materials while on the run, they would probably have been out of Melromarc by now, but going for a straight rush came with its own set of risks that the group didn't want to take. If they needed to fight their way out from a situation, it was obviously better if they were stronger to tackle it. "It still takes some time, especially considering our circumstances."

"Ah, right. Some of the rumours did say that the heroes were together."

"Yeah, the others are with me. They're just off doing their own things right now, but everyone's been well. We've been looking out for each other, after all."

"That's good to hear. You've got their back, while your friends have your back." After restacking the boxes, he smirked towards Naofumi. "Regardless of how much of a mess is caused in Melromarc about these rumours, I don't think they'll be taking you guys down too easily. When you've got a party like that, you feel like you can face even the strongest of monsters. In your case, having all the Cardinal Heroes in a party might be a bit overpowered, so you might even be able to defeat dragons."

"We're not exactly going dragon-hunting though…" Naofumi wryly laughed. "We still need to be able to clear all of these rumours up, first and foremost, but if we find ourselves fighting with the knights too much, it might not be able to work out."

"You've got a plan further than leaving Melromarc?"

"It's something, and that's better than nothing," Naofumi said, letting the optimism play out a little. "Hopefully, the stars can align for us, but with how things started out, I think we'll have to put in a bit of effort here and there."

"Despite what the situation could be, you sound more happy than before."

Naofumi kept a shy smile as Erhart chuckled, crossing his arms in the sight of the Shield Hero's light-hearted demeanour. Naofumi already knew the reason as to why he could move forwards like this. If he didn't have any of his friends by his side, he wouldn't know how he would be acting. It might have been even possible for Naofumi to become spiteful and cold, thinking that everything was probably out to get him in one manner or another. Even that was a future that he could have imagined.

"If you ignore the whole ordeal of being fugitives, it's a bit like an adventure with my friends."

Erhart boisterously laughed. "That's one way of thinking about it, Shield Kid!"

After his voice rested down a little, the blacksmith made a fleeting sigh.

"In any case, I wanted to ask you something. That's the other reason why I wanted to talk to you, other than updating you on the capital."

"What is it?"

"Is there anything I can help you out on? Of course, this isn't my workshop, but my acquaintance has allowed me to make things here if I wanted to do so."

Naofumi was reminded that he was originally scouting the markets for new armour. He perked up almost immediately, knowing that he was going to be in safe hands here. He told Erhart about his request and since he hadn't been selling all of his materials or using them in the strengthening methods - Ren had been very insistent about them holding onto a small pile of materials, just in case - he was able to offer Erhart things that might be needed.

Naofumi laid them out for Erhart to see.

Liking what he had to work with, Erhart accepted his request, but there was a small caveat to it.

"It'll take a few days for me to finish this up. I don't know if you want to take that risk or not, mainly because I can imagine that you're hopping from town to town every so often."

"A few days…?"

Naofumi grimaced. Logically, it would be bad for him to keep his friends held here for any longer than they scheduled for. With the knights covering more ground as the days faded by, there was the possibility of their opponents strolling up to the front streets, making it almost impossible to avoid conflict if they're attentive.

However, he knew Erhart would produce something good for him as armour. This was a considerable decision of risk versus reward, leaving Naofumi to mull over it. He knew he should try and talk to his friends about it first, but the sooner that he accepts the conditions, the quicker Erhart can get working on the new armour for him.

"Alright, I think I'll take you up on it. However, if we see any signs of danger, I'll be taking my friends and leaving the town as soon as possible. In that case, you should probably hold onto the armour and sell it somewhere else, but you can keep the extra materials and the prepayment."

"Sounds good. I've got no arguments here. If I talk to my acquaintance, I should be able to get a few more eyes on the streets, just to be sure."

Naofumi thanked Erhart for the help, telling him where they were staying for the night, and well, the next few days supposingly. It felt nice to have a normal chat like this, catching up with Erhart, as he was going to be brought back out to the front of the building for departure.

A man walked into the hallway, just as they were leaving the room.

He was short, almost like the slave trader, but he was well-dressed in a merchant's outfit that he could easily imagine being in Odin Spirit. His red clothing was fashionably paired with the light amounts of jewels and accessories on him, but his plump shape made him look quite jolly.

"Oh, Hickwaal? You're back?"

"Yep. I just finished up meeting with a few adventurers that will bring me over to Zeltoble in a few days. Good mannered people too, but that aside, you wanted to speak to me?" Hickwaal glanced over to Naofumi. "Hmm? Who might this be? You've snagged a customer for yourself?"

"The kid's name is Naofumi. Remember the guy I was talking about?"

Hickwaal's eyes widened. The implication was likely that Erhart spoke about Naofumi as the Shield Hero a few times before with this man, perhaps favourably.

"What's a person like that doing in a place like this?" he asked, amused.

"Caught him up with the situation he's in while being given a custom order. So in a way, you were right in thinking that he's a customer of mine." Erhart slammed his hand on Naofumi's back amicably. If it weren't for his defence rating, Naofumi would have believed that it would have hurt. "I actually wanted to see if I could get some accessories thrown in for him, Hickwaal."

"Well, I certainly can't be giving them away for free, but if the Shield—uhm, Naofumi wishes to pay for them, I would be more than happy to sell them for a reduced price."

"Accessories? Is that really needed?" Naofumi asked.

"It certainly wouldn't hurt for adventurers to have," Hickwaal answered. "Accessories can help out in improving ratings in small, but meaningful ways. They could also have a few additional effects that might prove useful down the road."

Naofumi did remember that there were a few accessories that Ren and Itsuki threw in for Naofumi when he was still by himself in the capital, but he never really wore most of what he bought. In fact, once they were on the run together, he ended up selling the remainder of those accessories to make up for the money used in buying his current leather attire.

Hickwaal brought Naofumi over to see a small collection for display as Erhart went off to get started on the new armour as soon as possible. He could see that compared to what his friends bought, these were oriented around jewellery. It wouldn't have been difficult to mistake some of these accessories as something he could see back in his own world.

From bracelets, to necklaces and to rings, it was as if they were constantly sparkling.

"How much are these?"

"For the current line you're seeing, it ranges from twenty silver coins to a hundred. This is on the lower end of our scale." Hickwaal held one of the rings in his hand. "If you want to have them imbued with magic, that will mostly double or triple its base price."

"Pretty expensive. Are you discounting me by seventy percent?"

"Far too much," Hickwaal laughed, but in a fun manner. "I was only thinking about thirty precent when Erhart suggested the idea to me."

Naofumi's bartering abilities instinctively kicked in for himself. For a while, he had only been trying to sell their materials for market price and considering the medicine, he probably sold them for a lower range due to the circumstances. However, it wasn't to say that Naofumi was getting rusty.

It took about a few minutes of discussion, but Naofumi finally won out in the end.

"Sixty percent off it is," Hickwaal chuckled. "You sure know a way with your words."

"Well, I do have experience underneath my belt. Back where I was from, I was something… like an occasional merchant myself."

Of course, Naofumi was referring to the time he spent in Odin Spirit.

Similar to how Visna existed like a merchant's corner as an entire town, Odin Spirit had a trading market where players could barter their materials, weapons, or rare products to other players. Naofumi himself was a part of a guild that emphasized part of their structure towards this category, having the objective to have a good network of income and items for when guild events started, but to simply say that might have been an underestimation.

In fact, Naofumi was the person who led the "financial" branch of the guild before he stepped down due to playing the game less than usual in recent times. He was still able to get things done effectively for the guild, helping out whenever he can, but he was only able to reach that high position due to his natural ability in the marketplace. If the guild needed to get their hands on a specific item, he was going to figure out a way to get it for the lowest price possible.

This was mainly the reason why Naofumi was left to be the seller of the group, mainly because his friends already knew that they wouldn't be hoodwinked out of the material's values if Naofumi was the one steering the ship on that end.

"What's this about imbuing magic into them though?" Naofumi asked, reflecting back to what Hickwaal was saying before. "Does that mean it'll be stronger?"

"When an accessory is imbued with magic, that's the state in which it will receive additional effects for the wearer. Without it, it is simply an accessory with minor rating boosts. Some people buy these for others as aesthetic gifts for them to wear casually, while adventurers will tend to buy accessories that are imbued with magic for these particular bonuses."

For it to be sold for a high price for something relatively small. Compared to the amount that he got from Lerno, he would only be able to buy a handful of unimbued accessories of varied qualities after his prepayment for Erhart. That meant even with the discounted price, he would have to be careful as to what he was going to buy, but then he considered picking something up for everyone.

There wasn't enough spare money to have it all imbued with magic.

"Would it… be possible for the buyer to imbue the accessory themselves?"

But at that point, Naofumi's mind went on ahead.

"Wait, how difficult would it be to even make these accessories?"

"If I responded to you truthfully, I wouldn't be able to turn a profit here, would I? I'm already running on a thin line with the sixty percent discount I'm running for you."

"Well, it won't be as if I'll get the chance to buy from you again in the near future, given the circumstances and all." Naofumi glanced at the accessories as Hickwaal returned the ring in his hand back to the display. "How about I pay you to tell me about the methods instead? That would probably be a better investment for me."

"You've got me intrigued. You think you can pull off the method?"

"You've heard about the rumours about the heroes, right?" Naofumi asked quietly. "About how they've been sticking together? Hypothetically, if that were true, then the Shield Hero would want to do what he can for the rest of his allies, right? Even if that means picking up a new skill to benefit themselves. Hypothetically speaking, of course."

Hickwaal stared at Naofumi with a gentle smile for a moment, chuckling under his breath. His pause made it seem like there was something else on his mind, but it ended up being shaken off. Naofumi was half-expecting Hickwaal to refuse the offer, but he was welcomed to be surprised.

"Then I suppose, hypothetically speaking, this Shield Hero must do what he can."

"Will you help me out?"

"Come back tonight and I'll sort something out. I'm a busy man, so hopefully, you'll be able to pick up the basics from there and work on it yourself once we're done. You're free to use the rooms like Erhart if you need a place to practice. You're lucky that you've interested me, since I don't normally help people out like this."

"Thanks. I really do appreciate it."

Hickwaal extended his hand for Naofumi to shake on it. He'll have to talk to the others about what he was up to, but he was certain that they wouldn't mind too much. If there was some benefit to them, he would be mindful that Ren would be on point, at the very least.

"You do know how to use magic, right?"

"... Huh?" Naofumi's hand slipped away from Hickwaal.

"To be able to imbue accessories with magic, you'll need to know how to use magic. That should have gone without saying much."

Blankly, Naofumi blinked.

"You don't know how to use magic?"

"It's… in progress…"

Raphtalia was the only one out of the group that managed to figure out her first spell. Naofumi remembered how excited she was to show him late one night and it was rather impressive to boot. She had the magic spell [Faust Hide Mirage] which allowed her to turn invisible to the visible eye, but it wasn't too strong. Despite the others not seeing where she could be, it would appear that folks like Eclair and Ren were able to detect Raphtalia using their own combat intuition. A stronger variation might have been able to mask even her presence to the highest level.

That being said, Naofumi still hasn't gotten a good grasp on how magic should be done in this world. He asked Raphtalia for pointers, but even through her attempts to elaborate, it was apparently difficult for her to put into words. The best she could say was to imagine synchronizing with his own spirit, but he felt like he needed more tips than that. She ended up apologizing over it, leaving him to try to ask Sakura about it because according to Motoyasu, she was able to naturally know magic; it was likely because she has monster instincts over that category.

Though, her explanation was… much less helpful and less descriptive.

"Hmmmm…? Just… do it…?"

Added in with a head tilt with sleepy stares from Sakura, Naofumi knew he was getting nothing out of her, to no fault of her own. He wouldn't be able to know how to explain breathing to someone who was trying to breathe either, if that analogy worked under those absurdities. In simply remembering it, Naofumi ended up replicating the wryly laughter he had.

"Hmm…"

After some thoughts, Hickwaal pulled out a piece of ore from his pocket and handed it over to Naofumi. Being a bit surprised, the merchant proceeded to inquire a bit more about Naofumi's situation.

"Are you able to read?"

"To a decent degree. If it's simple, I can certainly manage myself."

"Then that should be enough. Magic is about feeling your own power, so try focusing on the magic ore you have in your hands right now."

Naofumi was working hard to try and get magic down for the sake of his friends, so he followed Hickwaal's instructions to the best of his ability without faltering. Holding it tightly, he was surprised by the magic ore that started glowing. It was reacting to his magic, but Naofumi kept up, trying to figure out where this magic had been flowing from with exact locations. That must have been what Hickwaal was trying to let Naofumi focus on here.

Apparently, Naofumi already had the magic capability, but he simply knew about it. The magic stone helped him to see something like his spirit, outlined by the constant flow of magic. It was disorienting. Despite that, Naofumi kept thinking about what Raphtalia said, trying to become one with this spirit he couldn't detect at first and once things started to line up, it was as if words were starting to appear inside his mind.

Holding out the ore instinctively, he spat out the words welling inside of him.

"I am… the source of my power. Hear my words and understand them. Protect my allies."

A target indicator appeared in his vision at the climax of the chant and without a second thought, he ended up using it on himself as he was covered in a soft light, somewhat similar to how skills would cover up Ren's sword or Motoyasu's spear, but more transparent.

"[Faust Guard]!"

His defenses were immediately raised by a significant margin. His supportive magic spell appeared to have the type of effect of adding more defensive stats to himself or any of his allies, so it was another way of making sure his friends were protected aside from [Air Strike Shield] and [Shield Prison].

This wasn't too bad for Naofumi.

With the ability to use magic underneath his belt, Hickwaal asked for him to return back to the shop at night for a quick lesson for accessory crafting and magic imbuing. In response, Naofumi affirmed the details, but asked if he could borrow the magic ore for a little while. Both Ren and Motoyasu had trouble following Raphtalia's instructions as well, so he would imagine that this would help them as well.

Once Naofumi explained himself, Hickwaal didn't mind it and sent the Shield Hero on his way.

As Naofumi walked out of the store with Hickwaal, an adventurer came around the corner. To how quickly the merchant paid attention to him, this person must have been one of the adventurers that was escorting Hickwaal back to Zeltoble in a few days.

"Mister Hickwaal?" the adventurer called out.

"Is there anything needing addressment?"

"There are still a few details that we seemed to have missed about—"

The adventurer stopped when he saw Naofumi, widening his eyes. Even with the hood on, Naofumi thought no one would pay much attention to him and yet, the moment that the adventurer looked into the general direction, his eyes immediately flickered over to the incognito hero.

Naofumi was afraid that he was spotted, but Hickwaal stood in to try to break the stare off.

"What's the matter? You shouldn't be staring too much at my customers like that."

"R-Right, sorry about that. It was nothing."

The adventurer quickly shook his head, moving off from the subject matter. Hickwaal quickly dismissed Naofumi before the adventurer could get any better ideas as to who the supposed customer really was, but both of them never thought that the adventurer hadn't been staring to see if the hooded figure was familiar.

It was because the adventurer was wondering about other things.

"Now then," Hickwaal responded. "What seems to be the matter, Batka?"

-/IV/-

After providing Motoyasu and Ren with the magic ore to help focus on synchronizing with their spirits, they were able to produce magic spells just as Naofumi did. For Motoyasu, his basic spells had been [Faust Fireball] and [Faust Heal], while Ren was only able to figure out [Faust Quickness]. He claimed that he was able to use [Faust Aquashot] as well, but he heavily insisted that he didn't need to demonstrate it to the others. It left Itsuki out from the party, but he kept saying how much he didn't need it, despite Naofumi noticing that Itsuki was trying to use the magic ore for himself behind their backs. He still didn't know how to read the language, so it didn't do him any good. It did appear that contrary to what Itsuki had been proclaiming, he was still interested in learning magic.

Naofumi returned back to Hickwaal later that night to start learning the method of crafting accessories. Overall, it wasn't too complicated, but the process itself would take some time. Similarly to armour, accessories required some metal ores in order to make the frame that the jewel would be embedded within.

Luckily for Naofumi, he was still sitting on some from his time in Riyute. He hadn't come around to using all of it yet, whether it would be to sell or to dissipate into his strengthening methods. Hickwaal was satisfied, seeing that he didn't have to be the one supplying the novice crafter's attempts. Naofumi ended up trying to form a bracelet and without wasting too much time, he was able to finish it.

Next up, a jewel was selected for Naofumi for him to place it snugly into the bracelet. This was the part of the accessory that had to be imbued with magic, so Naofumi concentrated his hardest in order to follow Hickwaal's instructions. It started consuming a bit of his MP, meaning he wouldn't be able to produce too many at once, but the skills from his shield were certainly helping. It took the next few days to understand by himself the process, as Erhart would swing by to see how he was doing after hearing about Naofumi's venture into accessory crafting.

At the end of it though, Naofumi was finally able to present a finished product, polished to meet the standards of Hickwaal's eyes.

"Here we are," Naofumi said, taking a deep breath of relief. "One [Ruby Bracelet]. It comes with fire resistance, but it keeps going down in quality every time I imbue it with magic… Its base already takes a while to make, so it feels like a waste."

"Even so," Hickwaal mulled to himself amusingly, "to think you were able to make something like this already. Usually, it would take a bit longer for people to get the hang of it. If this were in my wares, I could probably sell this for around eighty silver coins."

"Eighty? Seriously? That much?"

"I simply say it as to how I see it," Hickwaal chuckled.

While he was surprised to see his work had that much value in it, Naofumi was a bit tired and probably spent more time than he should have everyday to nail the process. Hickwaal was only around for supervision during the first day and returned today in order to check up on Naofumi's progress.

He could imagine there being some bags underneath his eyes considering he never checked these past few days, lacking more sleep than what he was normally giving himself. Since this was something he wanted to do for his friends, he spent most of his energy, and then some more, in trying to nail it. Spending his MP constantly proved to be more tiresome than he expected, but he didn't mind it. He wanted the accessories that he planned for Raphtalia and the others to not be lacking in quality, so if that required a bit more effort, he was going to put it all in.

"It still looks pretty good," Motoyasu said, taking a closer look at it.

"It's shinyyy…" Motoyasu gently tugged on Naofumi's hand to let Sakura see it better. Naofumi didn't fight against the gesture. "Wow… So niceee…"

"If it's something as light as a bracelet," Ren added, "then it's essentially free stats on top of whatever we have. I don't see a problem with us running with accessories of that quality, especially if we can get more effects for ourselves."

His friends came along to see the workshop for themselves, but that hadn't been the actual reason as to why they tagged along today. It was simply a little bonus as they waited for Erhart to finish up his end of the deal. Things were wrapping up today, so they came by to see the fruits of waiting around for a few days to decide for themselves if it was worth it. Not that they could take it back, of course.

"Getting this sold for eighty silver coins…" Naofumi's mind was still wrapped around the rough estimate as a smile crept up. "That's getting my blood pumping a bit from the dopamine…"

"You looked rather excited, Master Naofumi."

"I mean, I probably won't work on it soon, but maybe if I have some spare time, I could definitely make some extras so that we have some spare money in our pocket. Considering our situation, I…" Naofumi's hand lowered with the ring on it. "It feels a bit wrong to be having fun when we're seen as fugitives to the capital, but I can't help myself to think like that when I've got options for bartering."

"Oh, right. You were a bit like a merchant back in Odin Spirit, right?"

Naofumi nodded at Itsuki's question.

"Trying to figure out what to sell… Trying to see how much you can get for it…" Naofumi held onto the ring a bit tightly, reminiscing on the memories of Odin Spirit and the fun he had with it in high school. "Even if this is real life, compared to the digital world of Odin Spirit, I'm still getting chills of excitement, merely thinking about what I can do here."

"Can Sakura see it more closelyyy…?"

"Of course, here you go."

"Yayyy…!"

As Sakura held onto Naofumi's crafted [Ruby Bracelet] and held it up to Motoyasu to see it too, the blacksmith returned to the room, beckoning for Naofumi to come over. He did as he was asked to do, following Erhart to grab his new set of armour, but it hadn't been exactly what he envisioned. If anything, he felt a little embarrassed to come back out looking like that, but its stats had been better than the leather armour he was wearing.

Still though…

"What… what do you guys think?"

Itsuki choked on his own saliva as Naofumi walked out. He certainly wasn't expecting Naofumi to walk out, looking like… like that. The main problem Itsuki had was that it clashed so heavily with the image of Naofumi he had in his head and judging from the reactions of everyone else, he clearly wasn't the only one in the boat.

"U-Uhm, that's…" Motoyasu scratched his head, trying to find the proper words. "I mean, it's not a bad look for you. It was just unexpected, that's all."

"I think it looks good on Master Naofumi," Raphtalia commented. "Very cool!"

"But doesn't Naofumi look like a bandit!?" Itsuki spat. "Should he really be taking this!?"

"Huh? I don't see anything wrong with it though?"

The armour had been lined with fur and the chest was made of metal ores that Naofumi had provided to Erhart. The parts that hadn't been covered by those had been wrapped with monster skins and while it looked uncomfortable, the extra lining underneath everything ensured that the user hadn't been hindered by their own safety. In fact, Naofumi felt like he could move a little better in this armour than his leather one he was using.

He was surprised that Erhart got his size correctly. Without even taking proper measurements, he was able to gauge properly as to what would perfectly fit on him, but he supposed that this technically wasn't the first set of armour that Naofumi got from Erhart. Perhaps he had those measurements of the other armours on a tab somewhere for future reference.

"What was this armour called again?" Naofumi asked.

"It's called the [Barbarian Armour]," Erhart confidently answered. "I took a look at what I had on hand here and thought this was the best thing I could make for him."

"In what world!? Barbarian!? Naofumi isn't a barbarian! Far from it!"

"Kid, it's just the name of the armour."

"Wasn't there something else you could have made?"

"Excuse me? Are you doubting my expertise here? Again, this was the best thing I could have done for him, considering every factor of durability to flexibility. Anything else would have been lacking on some front or requirement."

Itsuki stammered, accidentally letting the prior exclamation out. "No, that's not what I meant! I was trying to say, uhm, I mean, what I meant was—!?"

"I think Sir Itsuki is trying to say that it doesn't exactly fit the initial aesthetic of Sir Naofumi," Eclair said, tagging in to save Itsuki. "There's a certain image I would imagine when I see an armour like that for people who would wear it, but Sir Naofumi isn't one of those people. Something like rugged adventurers of seasoned flair might be suited for this, so seeing this contrast is surely a sight."

"It doesn't matter what he looks like," Ren sighed. "As long as it does its job."

Sakura darted slowly, tilting her head as she judged Naofumi's new appearance. Although she didn't say anything, she had a soft smile on her face. Motoyasu came up, patting his friend on the back.

"Well, at least you're looking more like a hero than having that plain old outfit."

"He had decent equipment before somebody trashed it, you know," Ren groaned.

"H-Hey, I apologized for that already, didn't I!?"

"With Master Naofumi finishing his accessory crafting and Mister Erhart giving the armour, we should be good to go in the morning." Raphtalia said. "We should probably head back to the inn and start making preparations."

"It was good to see that you were doing well, Erhart." Naofumi smiled gently at the blacksmith. "Hopefully, things will continue to bode well for your business."

"If anything, I should be the one wishing all of you luck." Erhart crossed his arms, glancing over at the group before him. "Though, if you guys got each other, maybe things will end up working out for everyone eventually."

"Of course we've got each other's back!" Motoyasu pulled Naofumi in, having his arm around his shoulder. His grin was paired with a wink and a peace sign on his finger. "We're friends 'til the end!"

As Sakura tried jumping in for a hug as well, hanging off Motoyasu's side to disturb a bit of their balance together, Erhart couldn't contain his amusement. Both Ren and Itsuki were thanking Erhart for his services again, once for this instance and once more for lending a hand back in the capital when they didn't know where Naofumi had been.

Once they said their departures to Hickwaal and Erhart, they headed off into the night to leave the merchant and the blacksmith by themselves. Hickwaal had a bit of a hearty laughter as their figures disappeared into the crowd.

"My, my. The Cardinal Heroes certainly weren't anything as I expected."

"I told you that they were good people, right?"

"I suppose you did, but it's one thing to hear about it. It's another thing to see it for myself."

"Though, that alone wouldn't be enough for you to straight-up teach him how to make accessories and imbue them with magic. Was there something else going through your mind?"

"Let us say it was an investment." Hickwaal tipped his merchant's cap to the blacksmith. "I merely saw a wonderful potential in that Shield Hero. He might be able to develop much further than I can foresee. From that glint in his eye, he's got the heart of a merchant, so I hope he can get himself out of this situation with Melromarc."

"Can't you lend assistance once you communicate back with the merchant's guild in Zeltoble?"

Hickwaal sighed, grumbling a bit. "It's rather complicated in that regard. As long as they stay on this path, the merchant's guild won't be able to do much, even if they wanted to. Not that they will, if they don't see the monetary profit in it."

"I suppose that's how folks from Zeltoble work."

Erhart rolled his arms while turning to head back to the backroom. As well as the heroes, Erhart needed to start making his own preparations to return back to the capital to get his store running back up at full capacity again. Hickwaal was slated to start his return tomorrow morning too, and it would be slightly awkward to remain under his roof if the owner hadn't been around anymore.

The next time he saw the Cardinal Heroes, he would hope that everything would have been cleared up. Their names, their reputations, and their future. Those kids didn't deserve whatever came their way, being cornered in such a manner, but they certainly have the resilience to move forwards.

No, it wasn't resilience. It was the trust in one another that propelled them into the future, but as Erhart left Hickwaal, he added in something right at the end.

"There hasn't been a situation like this seen in history before, so even Zeltoble's council is treading lightly. That is, if they even believe that the heroes aren't evil. As long as they don't do anything too crazy, I don't think there should be anything to worry about."

Erhart paused for a moment, but his words came out rather naturally.

"I don't think we'll need to worry about that."

-/IV/-

"I still can't believe we waited a few days, just to get armour and accessory-crafting skills for Naofumi," Itsuki grunted. "I mean, it was a good pick-up, but it was, I don't know, a bit boring on the outside!? Naofumi had so many things to do to keep himself busy, but all I remember doing was cycling through eating, sleeping, and fighting monsters! This is unfair!" He stomped on the ground as he proceeded through the streets with his friends. "There has to be a villain or bandit king or evil-doer subplot coming up at some point! It's basically impossible to avoid it now!"

"It's not all about the fights, Itsuki," Motoyasu responded. "Maybe some relaxation was for the best. We haven't had a good reason to stay in one spot for a while and if it's to help Naofumi improve himself, I don't see why we should have skipped town as soon as possible."

"Okay, but that's not what I'm trying to imply here!"

"Hmm…? Does Itsuki not like the break?" Sakura tilted her head. "Sakura likes the break… She spent lots of time with Daddy… butttt Sakura also misses pulling the cart…"

"Please don't say that out loud when you're in your human form, Sakura…" Raphtalia wryly groaned. "We don't want people thinking we make a little girl pull our cart."

"I know we're fugi—I mean…" Itsuki changed his tone, almost going on autopilot in his little rant. "You know what we are to the capital. Anyways, it doesn't exactly mean we're not allowed to become heroes for people, right?"

"We saved Lerno," Naofumi added. "What else do you want?"

"We fought a plant. Not to mention that it was made by Motoyasu. Where's the evil in that?"

"Should there… be evil in a plant?" Eclair asked, not exactly understanding the problem. "If the people are protected from harm, should that not be a sufficient enough result for you to be seen as a hero? Even the people of Lerno perceive Sir Naofumi as a saint of some sort."

Itsuki pounded a fist into his palm. "No, I want to go up against a real bad guy! Now that my strengthening methods have reached new limits, I don't think anything can stop me!"

His thoughts flashed back to when he was still partying with Welst and the others where he had almost been cornered by a trap set for him. If it hadn't been for Welst and Kojeel stepping in to rescue him, he wouldn't know where he would be right now. Speaking of which, he wondered where they were right now. The last time he saw them, he and Raphtalia left their side in order to chase after Naofumi to the capital and that was a while ago. Considering how they weren't in Riyute when they visited again, they were probably back to their normal lives.

Itsuki shook his head, escaping from those tangents and thoughts. "I'm sure Ren would want the same thing!" He stopped to turn around to face his childhood friend. "Isn't that right, Re—?"

He held his tongue and widened his eyes, unable to process himself for a split second. Itsuki glanced around for a bit before concluding that Ren truly hadn't been with them anymore. Everyone else noticed Itsuki's confusion and looked around for themselves. It was as Itsuki acted; Ren had suddenly disappeared from the party.

"Wait, where did he go? Mister Ren was just with us a second ago, right?" Raphtalia asked.

"Should we put, like, a bell on the guy or something?" Motoyasu joked a bit.

"I'm sure something caught his attention," Itsuki sighed, dismissively waving his hand. "He'll be back eventually. Ren knows where we're staying, so it won't be a big problem."

"Are you sure about that?" Naofumi asked. "I mean, I suppose Ren knows how to handle himself, but I feel like he's been going off by himself too frequently these past few days."

"Honestly, is that something irregular for Ren to do?" Motoyasu asked light-heartedly.

"I, uh, suppose you're right." Naofumi scratched the back of his head. "It's just that he seemed like he was striking off by himself, even when one of us were heading out to grind for levels over the last few days, so I do have to wonder what it was that he was doing."

"If it's important for us to know, he'd tell us," Itsuki shrugged.

"Is that really how it would be?" Eclair asked. "For some reason, I can't shake the feeling that it wouldn't be the case."

"Oh, trust me. Don't worry much about it, Eclair." Itsuki chuckled, talking about his friend as if it was a state-of-fact. "I've been friends with him since childhood. He's always told me whatever I needed to know at the right time. If he's holding information, he just doesn't think it's a good time to say it."

Even with Itsuki's assurance, Eclair's thoughts couldn't be soothed. Her memories wouldn't shake off the reason as to why they had to depart from Riyute so quickly. While Ren did provide a barebone response, she felt like there was something more to it than his words alone. Although, it was simply intuition at work without any supporting evidence to back up her suspicions.

"Daddy…?" Sakura softly tugged at Motoyasu's clothes. "I'm hungryyy…"

"Then we should probably get some food as soon as possible," Motoyasu said. "I'm getting a little hungry myself, so perfect timing."

"I'll need an hour to get everything finished up, so—"

"No, I'll take kitchen duty with Itsuki and Raphtalia this time, Naofumi." Motoyasu wagged his finger with a smirk. "Even though your food tastes great, I can't force you to go into the kitchen when you're looking tired like that. I'll have Raphtalia grab you once we're finished up."

"I…" Naofumi instinctively went to refute, but stopped himself when he realized he would have been in an uphill battle. "Yeah, I guess so. Thanks."

"Hopefully, Ren wraps up whatever caught his attention soon." Itsuki gazed up to the clouds. The dark skies of the evening dusk were starting to become covered by grey clouds. "Not only will he miss dinner, but I think rain is starting to settle in."

Eclair glanced behind them where Ren should have been if he was still following their tracks. A brief moment of hesitation tumbled into a decision as she made a heavy sigh, pulling Naofumi's attention.

"Something wrong, Eclair?"

"You do not think Ren is up to something?"

"Huh? Of course he is, but if it's not our problem, he's not going to budge. You save a lot of your energy that way!"

However, Eclair's instincts as a knight, for something she thought was valid to follow through in combat, had been ringing loudly. To what it was, she couldn't exactly tell until she could see it for herself. To what reason that it was those instincts in particular, she couldn't dive any deeper than the surface level of her confusion. All she knew was that she wanted a conclusion to these concerns.

One day, perhaps she'll find it.

-/IV/-

Batka never thought he would have met the Shield Hero in such a coincidental manner. All he did was take up a guild request alongside Tersia and a few other acquaintances to escort a member of the merchant's guild back to Zeltoble. They had to get things ready for the journey, while their client still wanted to finish up his own preparations regarding his role in Visna, but when Batka returned to double-check things, he didn't think the Shield Hero would be standing right next to him.

Not that… he should really care.

His job with the Church was finished. He completed what they wanted him to do and afterwards, he let him go to return back to make a living as an adventurer. Batka wished the payment was better made for what he did to make himself feel a little better about the whole thing, but having the Church off his back for now was probably more than what he could ask for.

At least their eyes were off his family. Off Tersia.

Now, he was just Batka the adventurer. There was no need to pull himself back into the mess that was the circumstances of the Cardinal Heroes, even if he was indirectly the cause of what happened in the capital. The Church didn't know that, the knights didn't know that, and none of his allies knew it either. All that was apparently reported that day was that he went into a blacksmith's store, upgraded his sword and had a little chat with the owner before departing.

And yet, Batka couldn't help himself to think about the Sword Hero, the person he supposingly betrayed by when the hero was trying to investigate information about the Shield Hero's trial and the crimes that he knew that his fellow hero didn't commit. He knew that the Sword Hero would start acting before long and once he was asked upfront about access to the church, he knew his time with the Sword Hero became limited.

That's why he went off and prepared his own help from the shadows, stacking up whatever books he could find and hide in the secret room before meeting up with the Sword Hero again. Although he never understood what the contents were supposed to be, he overheard from the head nun that those books were supposed to be important concerning the four heroes and perhaps, he naively thought it might have been helpful. They were some of the only books in the building that held any reference to the Shield Hero that hadn't been straight slanter, after all.

In retrospect, perhaps they wouldn't have done much, considering the result of his help.

"... Maybe I should go ask the Shield Hero how Sir Ren is holding up?"

He knew from the rumours stirring in the capital that the four heroes had been grouped up together, running away as wanted fugitives for the chaos they stirred at the castle. If the Shield Hero was here, it meant that the other heroes must have been in town as well.

Batka noticed that the Shield Hero was coming by everyday in order to work on his crafting proficiency since as the guy who got everything put on his shoulders by his party, he was keeping tabs on their client whenever required and lending a hand if needed. Apparently, that was in the description; note to himself to be the one to read these things before taking the request up.

He was heading over around the time the Shield Hero should have been within the premises, but he was surprised to see that he had just caught him leaving the building in new armour. That blacksmith that was staying with the client must have made something for the Shield Hero, but that hadn't been the only thing that made Batka freeze in place within the crowd.

The Shield Hero was with his entire party.

While there had been unfamiliar figures mixed into the group, Batka immediately noticed Ren's presence. Even if he was hiding his hair underneath that hood, it hadn't fooled Batka. However, in seeing the hero he formerly followed, he felt like he shrunk down a bit. Sure, he might have helped out the Bow Hero to have Ren saved from the dungeons, but he didn't know if that excused the fact that he betrayed Ren on the technical account.

Has Ren even forgiven him yet? Would he simply be causing more trouble by showing himself?

"On second thought, maybe it's for the better that we don't… Huh?"

As Batka started to turn away, he noticed that Ren was starting to swerve off the trail that his companions had been leading for him. Since he was in the back, none of them noticed the Sword Hero removing himself from their company as his eyes stopped to look behind him. Batka's heart skipped a beat, holding his breath in as he thought that somehow, Ren had detected the former party member, but he then suddenly ran off into an alleyway. His feet made very little noise, skipping like a ghost.

All without his allies knowing.

Batka bit down on his lips. "Man, when you see it from a third person perspective like this, Sir Ren makes it look incredibly easy…"

However, he was curious as to why Ren would suddenly change tracks like that. He knew it wasn't anything important nor would it have mattered in the end, but temptation was alluring him. This had been the first time he caught the Sword Hero going off by himself, compared to the multiple times he would go off by himself without warning his previous party members.

It was likely that Ren was heading off to grind experience points, considering it was starting to become night, but with the clouds coming in like this, it probably wasn't the greatest idea. Though, the fact that Ren had been running quickly was troublesome to him…

"Maybe I'll end up regretting this, but…"

Moving away from the door, Batka followed Ren down the alleyway to see what he was up to.

-/IV/-

A hooded figure came down the alleyway, meeting up with another person down there. Their faces were visible to one another as they snuck between the buildings and trades of the city.

"I've found the Shield Hero. He, alongside the other members of his party, should be returning back to the inn we've confirmed them to be staying at."

"Good. We'll go ahead and send an invitation soon enough." The hooded person chuckled. "We'll have to make sure we'll be able to bring the Shield Hero with us. I mean, it sounds easy enough. Why the hell would he want to stay in this place anyways? He'll certainly be better off in Shieldfreedan's hands."

"And what exactly is this Shieldfreedan?"

The hooded figures turned around in shock to hear the young voice. Ren noticed the retreating figure's presence before they had the chance to leave the area and considering how it felt like they left just as Naofumi and others were leaving, Ren decided to chase out on his hunch. With how they were talking about the Shield Hero, he supposed he was correct on the matter.

"Hmm? And are you supposed to be?"

"He's one of the people in the Shield Hero's party if my eyes are correct. Perhaps he's one of the Cardinal Heroes. It would explain how he would be here so quickly if he noticed me."

"You were supposed to keep yourself hidden."

"Well, I was trying to. I thought I was doing my best!"

"Hey. Answer my question here."

Ren placed a foot forwards, stancing himself for any quick movements. Whether that would have been away or towards him, he knew he'd be ready to react to the handful of scenarios he can see this playing out. His hand preemptively sat on the handle of his sword, just in case. They didn't look like the type to act kindly to random questions and requests like this, after all.

"I suppose if this is a party member of the Shield Hero, this makes our task much easier."

One of the hooded figures stepped up and presented himself to Ren, but he didn't remove his hood. However, Ren could see a few animalistic features on his head, similarly to how Raphtalia had hers. It was possible that this person was a demi-human, but considering the reputation of demi-humans in Melromarc from what he heard from Itsuki, he had to wonder why they were present here.

"As much as your intel shows its ability to track us," Ren grunted, "I've got a name, you know."

"Well, we're looking to have a nice, little meeting with the Shield Hero."

"For what reason?"

"That won't be required for an accessory of the Shield Hero to know."

"Excuse me?" Ren scowled. "What did you just call me?"

"I'm saying that we want to talk with the Shield Hero. Only his opinions on the matter will be important to us. No matter what you say, we really don't care."

"Then you can piss off. There's no way in hell I'm going to let you guys near Naofumi if this is the way you're going to be acting."

The demi-human's companion held an arm up to stop the man from snapping back so suddenly, trying to cease the initial aggression. With an exasperated sigh, he glanced at the Sword Hero while taking the stand away from the man for himself. The man looked like he wanted to push back against his companion, but begrudgingly backed off when he noticed the glare coming from Ren's expression.

"Apologies, we got off to a wrong start here."

"You think?" Ren growled.

"Look. Our orders are to speak of our intention with the Shield Hero, but you won't let us pass without speaking of them, I suppose we have no other choice. Please, we wish to bring the Shield Hero over to Shieldfreedan where it will be safe for him."

"Is Shieldfreedan another country?"

"It is, indeed," the companion nodded. "It's a place in which we support the Shield Hero as our religion. Despite what matters might have spread throughout the lands concerning the heroes within Melromarc, the council wishes to bring the Shield Hero over to our nation in order to figure things out. Of course, we do not believe the Shield Hero is evil. In fact, the council believes that Melromarc is trying to paint an evil image of the Shield Hero on purpose."

"You've got no other place to go!" the man scoffed. "Let us meet up with the Shield Hero, so that we can speak about this in more detail here!"

Ren kept up his guard, even when he had heavily sighed right in front of them. "I'm personally not interested in whatever politics you want to be playing here, but even disregarding that, I don't think Naofumi, the Shield Hero, would accept your invitation in the first place."

"How could you know that for sure?" the companion pleaded. "You won't know what your leader will say until we speak with him. Surely, we'll be able to convince him that this is a good idea for—"

"I've heard enough. Leave us alone."

The Sword Hero turned around and started walking away, but it would sound as if the demi-humans had been eerily stubborn about their proposition. Even the companion, who initially sounded understanding, was growing a bit irritated.

"But why turn us away!?" he asked. "We don't expect an immediate decision! The Shield Hero can take his time to figure things out, but we just want to talk to him, at the very least! We've even prepared something nice for the Shield Hero for our first meeting!"

"We're busy." Ren's feet stopped, but he didn't bother to look behind him. "We already have our own plans, so do yourselves a favour and stop wasting all of our time here."

"What?" the man chuckled out of his own irating disbelief. "Oh, I get it. You think the Shield Hero is going to abandon you and your comrades if he heard that there was a better deal for him waiting in Shieldfreedan! Don't worry, we'll take care of everyone in your part—!"

Ren's head slowly turned over his shoulder with a piercing glare that froze the two demi-humans in their spots. They couldn't feel their breaths as the air around them almost felt like it was turning frigid by the moment, though it was all in their imagination. Even so, Ren's words were as cold as ever, as stiff and hardened when it left his lips.

"Naofumi isn't that type of person."

His hand held its palm on the top of his sword's hand.

"You've got one chance to leave before I make you."

The demi-humans got a hold of themselves and even with this encounter, even the companion lost his patience with the Sword Hero. So much for playing the good guy in the situation; it could only go so far when he was dealing with someone as unexpectedly inflexible as this Sword Hero apparently.

"You're going to regret these actions. You've just messed everything up for everyone by burning down this opportunity for your leader. How do you think you're going to make it up to him?"

"I've got an idea of how we get the Shield Hero to meet us while getting this little yapping accessory of the Shield Hero off his side like that. Why don't we take him as a hostage? He looks weak enough to be easily captured." The man pulled out a knife while his companion readied his knuckles. "What a damn fool. Thinking he can play the tough guy acts like that!"

With his weapon, the man ran forwards to try and stab Ren to start cutting away at his health. It would have been able to hinder his movements and energy if it went the way that the man wanted it to go, but with every step the man got closer to the Sword Hero, Ren's ears started ringing louder and louder.

I won't let you…!

His heart pounded quicker and quicker.

I won't let you…!

Until his mind went blank, hearing only the footsteps echoing down the alleyway.

Even if I have to get my hands dirty…

If that's what kept him safe, then I'll…

I'll take this matter into my own hands.

…

…

"Don't forget. I gave you an out."

Before the man knew it, his eyes had seen the colour red.

Where did it come from? He wasn't sure. It took a few seconds for the man to register what just happened, but there was no way for him to understand quickly enough before his body collapsed onto the ground. His eyes rolled over, seeing that the red colour had been his own blood, spilling out into the ground as the rain started to pour downwards onto his cheeks.

In the fading images, he could see the Sword Hero with his unsheathed sword. When did he pull it out? The man didn't know, only recognizing it was far too quick for him to have seen it, despite running straight at him. And yet, that was the last thing he would ever see.

He didn't even get the chance to feel the pain as the man's body went limp, leaving the companion to sweat. The companion took a few steps backwards, hyperventilating at what strength was shown in front of his eyes.

"W-What… What did you just do…!?"

Ren was silent. It was like he couldn't hear the companion's question, but the companion himself felt like he wasn't up against the same person. He was so scared, he couldn't even look the Sword Hero directly in the eyes and turned his tail as quickly as he could.

"D-Damn it, I've…! I've got to tell the others that—!"

"[Air Strike Sword]."

For a moment, he had thought he'd slipped in a puddle from the rain, only to realize that there had been a transparent sword that impaled him that caused him to fall forwards. As quickly as he watched his comrade fall, he too succumbed quickly from his fatal wound.

As the rain continued falling, drenching Ren and his clothes, all he could feel was the heavy breaths that scraped against his lungs. He looked at what he had done, just like what happened when those hooded figures refused to speak.

He tried taking a deep breath. Ren knew he couldn't be losing himself here, especially when it was all finished, so it would be fine. There was no way to give back a taken life, but if he could pretend that these were just other players, just as it was in Brave Star Online, it would be fine. They wanted to mess with him and his friends, so they paid the price. It was fine.

That's all it was to it.

It was fine.

"Sir Ren?"

Ren turned his head to see a familiar face that he hadn't been expecting.

"Bat…ka…?"

However, Batka didn't expect to see such a face expressed on Ren.

Batka envisioned Ren to be some with an aloof demeanour, never trying to show his emotions if he didn't need to do so. Being detached gave him a bit of a loner image that he introduced himself with back at the castle to his party members. To a certain degree, Batka thought it looked cool, but that's why he felt so confused and perplexed by the sight before him.

Ren's face had been the same—

—but not from a desire to keep himself aloof.

It was because there was too much emotion inside Ren that he simply didn't know what to feel. It was starting to break. Spill out. Everything that he was holding back. Like a child that didn't know how to hide the fact that they broke their mother's favourite vase, it was the most defenseless demeanour he had ever seen the hero take up for himself. His muttering was cold, shivering from himself as his gaze had been falling to the ground.

"A hero… should fight in secret… That's what I..."

It was odd how a similar expression could translate to such tipped scales on emotion.

"Don't tell Itsuki that I…"

"Huh? Itsuki?"

Before Batka could figure out why the Sword Hero called out for the Bow Hero's name, Ren almost immediately snapped back out of his trance. He shook his head before returning immediately back to normal. It was almost eerie as to how quickly he recovered from that and it wasn't as if he was ignoring what he had just done. He made a quick glance over to the bodies before scoffing, leaving the area before anything else could happen. The only thing he ignored was what he had just said aloud, as if he didn't realize that those words spilled out from him.

As he passed Bakta, the former party member found some hesitant words escaping his mouth.

"I suppose… I'm glad to see you're doing alright…"

Ren's footsteps stopped, leaving only the patter of the raindrops for a few seconds.

"Yeah. Good to see you're doing well too."

"I, uhm…" Batka tried to look away, glancing down to the two bodies on the wet ground. "I mean, I suppose that was… self-defense, right?"

"..."

Another silence filled the awkward air as Batka was forced to see what Ren had done before him. However, he simply tried to continue on with what he wanted to say. This was probably the last time in a while, if at all, that he would get the opportunity to apologize properly.

"Hey, uhm, I'm sorry about what happened at the—"

"Don't bother. You still would have done the same thing if you were given another chance. If you were given the same circumstances." Ren continued walking down the raining path. "I already believed it would have ended up like this. They probably had people have their eyes on us already and they wouldn't back off until they got what they wanted. They got what they deserved."

"I…" Batka found himself shrinking. "Yeah, I guess you're right."

What else was there to say? Now that Ren was right there, he couldn't think about how he should catch up with the Sword Hero. Though, perhaps this situation hadn't been for the best. He took another look before he heard the footsteps return over to the bodies.

Without saying another word, Batka watched as Ren knelt down to the bodies and began stripping them of any valuables they had on themselves. As if it was an automatic system of his to try and cope with what he had done, to act as if this was a game when in reality, Ren knew himself that it was far from it. Childhood friends sometimes take from each other's personalities, but not always in the same mannerisms and execution.

Taking all what he wanted, Batka felt a heavy breath escaping his chest as Ren sent all he took into his inventory and left the scene. However, Ren left some words of advice for the adventurer as he passed him again.

"You should probably get out of here."

Batka couldn't feel his body for a few seconds, but when the footsteps seemingly disappeared behind him, he turned around to notice that Ren had done what he was always good at. Losing himself from the presence of others, but that image of the Sword Hero's emotional blank stare rippled before his eyes once again. It was simply too vivid for him to forget, as if the real Ren underneath had been trying to break out, only to be suppressed as soon as possible.

Carefully. Slowly.

Suddenly, things started to click.

"Sir Ren, you're…"

It would seem that the Sword Hero was playing a giant act.

One to portray an image of someone he was not.

One that even he managed to convince himself with.

---

[Author's Notes]

Planning to restart the author's notes from here on out.

Previously, I didn't add any, mostly because I didn't want to impose myself onto those rewritten chapters, and then some. I'm someone who prefers to have the work speak for itself, rather than my author's notes to help give a background of my thought process or ramblings that people might not be interested in, thus accidentally hurting the flow there. If you see where things are going, it did its job. If it doesn't, then it failed to do so, and I'm fine with that. Relatively.

Because from what I've seen, writers like to talk about their chapters in this section and I wouldn't be any different. However, I think some parts of the narrative are executed better if there were some level of vagueness and personal interpretation until it gets confirmed/denied in later chapters. I didn't want to be hinting at anything accidentally here, after all.

This chapter is different.

I actually didn't know what to do about the whole accessory sidequest that Naofumi finds himself in within canon and I wanted to make that clear here. I already pulled a bandit scene with the filolial egg merchant and I didn't want to rinse-repeat something similar. However, I still wanted Naofumi to have it under his belt for future reference; a foundation for me to do something with it if I ever so wanted to expand on that storyline of Naofumi and his accessory-crafting narrative. If I don't, I can certainly cut it short by leaving it as "Naofumi just wanted to make some accessories to boost his friends' stat ratings". That's why the execution of this chapter felt a little bland to me, regarding Naofumi's side of the chapter, of course. It ended up being similar to canon in the end, in terms of how he learns it despite the differing context.

Which caused me to sprinkle in some contrast in regards to… well, you've read the chapter; I don't need to retread it with you. I won't talk about that; as above, I'll leave it to you as to how you should interpret how that little subplot might play out. It's no secret it's a bit of a calculated risk, but... the real question is if I'm good at math here.

Though, I will say that this is where the Ren/Itsuki chapters begin, reflecting the Naofumi/Motoyasu chapters we had before.

Ugh, even that feels like saying too much…