Author Note: This story was inspired by a LN 14 side story (unpublished by OPB) and a little bit of Reprise. However, you don't need to know the stories to understand. In case you haven't met Raph-chan yet, she's a tanuki-like creature who joined Naofumi & co in their ventures. Naofumi likes her a lot, though Raphtalia can get jealous because of it.

AN2: The fic includes minor mentions of characters up to LN 14, and would probably take place around LN 18-20, however, it doesn't spoil the story at all since the fic doesn't follow canon. I'm intentionally avoiding details that would spoil the story and or crucial character reveals.

AN3: There are 6 chapters planned for this fic, but I'm leaving the final count open for possible future changes.

AN4: I doodled some illustrations for each chapter, but you're gonna have to hop on Ao3 counterpart of the fic to see those.


I was returning home earlier this time to check on Naofumi-sama and see if he needs any help with cooking or managing the village.

Today felt like a long day, even though it's still before noon and time for preparing lunch soon. I've been trying to help Keel-kun and the others to grind and level up a little, buuut… things got a little out of hand. We managed to get the situation under control eventually, but everyone ended up exhausted, including me.

My body felt a little sore, so I was stretching my arms as I entered the house. I'm pretty tired, so I may as well rest for a short while, in case Naofumi-sama is out and hasn't come back yet.

Hmm, yes. It looks like I'm a bit too early, so I grabbed a broom and at least tidied the room up a little, before I sat down on my bed, exhaling.

Hopefully there won't be any more issues like this in the future. I'm gonna have to confront Wyndia-san about the behavior of the monsters she's in the charge of. It was very hard to calm them down once they started misbehaving! One followed another, and soon, all of them broke loose.

With a sigh, I let my body fall back down on the bed, arms spread wide. It's tiresome, but we managed in the end. I'm sure the rest of the day will be perfectly fine. This was a rare situation after all.

I'll relax for a little bit and then help Naofumi-sama with cooking, once he returns.

I closed my eyes and exhaled slowly.

The sheets are so comfortable and soothing for my tired body…


"Rafu?"

Oh?

Did something just make noise in the room?

I sat back up and inspected my surroundings. There seems to be nothing out of the ordinary.

Huh? Must've been my imagination, or maybe I fell asleep for a moment. I'm tired, and my subconscious probably brought up the crazed monsters' sounds in my head. I really hope I'm not developing another trauma.

After scanning the room with my eyes one more time, I lay back down on the bed.

I should probably relax a bit more, otherwise Naofumi-sama could get worried about me. He's a very busy man, so I wouldn't want to cause even more stress. I'm here to help him, as I'm his sword.

Yosh, calm down. Everything's fine.

"Rafu."

This time I definitely did hear something! And it sounded awfully familiar!

I quickly sat up and looked around the room again. Where are you? I know you're here, Raph-chan! I called to her in my head and threw the blanket away to reveal the sneaky creature.

But there's nothing. I blinked.

She's… not here?

"Rafu, rafu." It sounded from the other side of the bed now. I got you!

I turned around and instantly caught her in my hands.

"There you are, Raph-" I was about to frown at her and have a stern talk about proper manners, but the fluffy ball of fur looked… somehow different than usual.

Huh…?

Raph-chan in my arms was wearing a green cape around her neck and had a toy shield attached to her shoulder. Her eyes were half closed, looking very tired contrary to usual. The fluffy tail was hanging freely down, which was also a rare sight. On top of that, she was wearing some sort of a… wig? She had a black tuft of hair or fur between her ears.

The glance she was placing at me… She gave off an aura of someone exhausted from life.

"Raph-chan… Why do you have Naofumi-sama's clothes?" I questioned the creature, but she only slowly blinked.

"Rafu."

"You can't do that," I frowned and tried to take the cape away from her, but she just lay down over the cape, so that I wouldn't be able to reach it. I can just pick you up and take it from you, Raph-chan!

But I do admit that she behaves rather differently from usual. She's always very energetic and all over the place, but now she's just lying down, staring at me. She opened her mouth and seemed like she wanted to tell me something, but gave up before even trying. It sounded as if she just sighed.

"Did… something happen…?" I tried asking, but of course, I wouldn't get an answer in human language.

"Rafu."

I would think that something may have happened to Naofumi-sama, but she would probably be very stressed about it as opposed to being lethargic. She would try to get me to him immediately. Maybe she became sick and that's why Naofumi-sama sent her home, wrapped in his cape? But shouldn't he be able to cure her? Naofumi-sama is amazingly good at curing and healing, so I don't see that as a possibility. Besides, he wouldn't let her go alone if that was the case.

And since she came here wearing his cape, they must've been together not that long ago.

"Raph-chan. Are you sick? Maybe we should visit Rat-san to take a look at you."

"Rafu, rafu rafu!" She sounded angry for a moment, but then sighed again as she lay back down. I suppose she doesn't want to go.

I'm not really that fond of this creature, but I know Naofumi-sama likes her a lot and would probably react really badly had something happened to her. As much as I didn't like the idea, I picked Raph-chan up and walked outside again, holding her in my arms.

She was just disinterestedly staring in front of us and wasn't protesting about me carrying her. That behavior is very odd for sure. Even I am getting worried now…

I'll look if Naofumi-sama is around to ask him about her, just in case. I didn't want to leave her home alone like this, without supervision. Even though she seems to be wearing a costume and impersonating Naofumi-sama.

I hope she's not just playing with me, pretending to be sick.


Together, we began walking around the village, looking for the Shield Hero.

We visited the monsters' stable, the well, the dining area, Ren-san's place, Itsuki-san's place (we skipped the Spear Hero's place) and the training grounds, but Naofumi-sama is nowhere to be found. Of course, I was also asking the village residents, the children, but it didn't look like he was around yet.

I even asked Raph-chan directly, to point me in the direction where she saw him for the last time, but she only clapped her tiny paw against her toy shield. She's probably disoriented and can't feel his presence right now. Which is very concerning… But when I suggested visiting Rat-san's laboratory, she refused to go.

"I suppose we're gonna have to wait until Naofumi-sama returns from the training," I told my little companion and proceeded to return to our house with her. I sat her down on the bed.

"Rafuuuuu," she said. I don't understand you!

Had Wyndia-san or Filo been here, maybe they would understand, but the girls were still busy training with different groups of monsters, so we can't help it.

Naofumi-sama can call for Raph-chan, but I'm pretty sure she can't do the same with him. That would make things much easier…

What now?

I was staring at Raph-chan, and Raph-chan was staring at me.

"Rafu."

Why does Naofumi-sama like you so much anyway? You can't even talk, and you're just a ball of fur. You might be a little cute and skilled in magic, but that's about it.

"Rafu, rafu," she exhaled.

She's definitely lacking the usual energy and it's making me worried. What will Naofumi-sama say once he finds her like this? Maybe she's gonna blame it on me! But, on the other hand… it didn't look like she was just playing around.

She can't be pretending this whole time, right? That would be an awful joke. I would have a hard time forgiving her for that one.

The possible causes of her behavior were running through my head, until a loud knocking on my door brought me back to reality.

"Naofumi-sama?" I instantly perked my ears.

I stood up to open the door, but my visitor who just came in was someone else entirely.

"Raphtalia-chan? Is bubba not back yet…?" It happened to be my good friend, Keel-kun, looking all worried and nervous

'Bubba' is Naofumi-sama's nickname. Many of the villagers refer to him as bubba Shield, but Keel-kun only uses bubba. I never questioned that choice and now it's not the best time for it either.

"I'm afraid not. I've been looking for him around the village, but it doesn't seem like he's around," I answered.

"Uhh… You see, it's almost time for lunch, I was wondering if bubba is gonna cook again today," Keel-kun's ears moved down a little.

"Yes, he usually cooks unless he states otherwise. It's very strange that he hasn't arrived yet," I admitted.

Stress is slowly starting to get to me.

I mean, Naofumi-sama is nothing if not tough, he wouldn't get defeated so easily, but something might have happened to prevent him from returning.

"Should we search for him some more?"

"Yes, let's do that."

And so, I took Raph-chan in my arms again and headed outside once more, with Keel-kun accompanying us this time.


But no matter where we looked, there was no sign of the Shield Hero. I'm getting really nervous. We need to hurry and find him fast!

"Onee-chan~" Someone suddenly called at me.

It was Filo, also already returning to the village from leveling up the children, waving at me from afar. Perfect timing.

We nodded at each other with Keel-kun and ran towards the filolial.

"Filo. Welcome back. Have you seen Naofumi-sama on your way here?" I asked her immediately.

"Master? On the way heeeere? No," she responded as she transformed back to her angelic form.

"I see… But maybe you'd be able to find him somehow?" I asked.

Filo is a monster, despite her ability to look human, talk and understand human language and attain human manners. Well, more like human child manners, but it's still impressive for a monster to be able to pull off something like that. And since she is a monster, her senses and instincts are sharper, so she might be able to find him easier than us.

"Hmm?" She tilted her head as she stared at me.

"Naofumi-sama is supposed to be here, but he hasn't arrived yet. I'm worried…" I explained.

"Onee-chan, you seem to be stressed. Master is riiiiiight here, you know."

"Huh?" I blinked.

I took a quick look around, but there are no signs of the man in question. When I glanced back at Filo, she was still staring at me.

"Filo, this is not a good time for playing around. I'm actually worried," I frowned a little to show how serious I am about it.

"Hmm?" But she only tilted her head to the other side and continued watching me. She's behaving very strange as well! I backed off a little.

"If you're saying he's here, then show him to me," I insisted.

"Master is right heeeere, don't you see?"

"Here - where? No, I don't see."

I was slowly running out of patience with this little girl. I need to find Naofumi-sama fast if something horrible happened. I have no time for playing!

"Right here, onee-chan," Filo repeated and again tilted her head to the other side.

"Raphtalia-chan, do you think that maybe…" Keel-kun trailed off while watching Filo's focused stare.

Then the realization hit me. Filo wasn't looking at me. She was looking at the creature in my arms.

"Rafu."

"Filo, this is not Naofumi-sama. This is Raph-chan."

"Hmm? But smells like Master," she said innocently.

"That's because he carries her on his shoulders often and now she wears his cape. Just because she smells like him doesn't mean it's Naofumi-sama," I frowned at Filo a little more.

"Fluffy ball has Master's smell and face, so it is Master," Filo's bird mind concluded.

"No, Filo! Let's look somewhere else, Keel-kun," I suggested, all frustrated, and headed with my two companions to look elsewhere.

"Right…"

If only I knew where Naofumi-sama was training, I could try to meet him there, but alas, I had no idea. And it seemed like the village kids were unsure as well. This really is quite worrisome!


Why is Filo following us on our searching spree? I told her to look for Naofumi-sama as well! Even then she kept walking behind us in her bird form, staring at Raph-chan from behind my shoulder.

I sighed defeatedly and let her do whatever she wants. She never listened to me anyway…

"Masteeeer, are you gonna make yummy yummy for Filo today?" She asked Raph-chan in my arms.

"Rafu."

"Stop it, Filo, this is not Naofumi-sama," I mumbled all frowny.

She was only tilting her head.

This isn't getting anywhere…


We Continued going around the village borders, asking everyone about Naofumi-sama, but for the longest time, we weren't really lucky. Nobody knew which direction he headed to train. This is so unfortunate… I can't believe I don't know where he was heading today!

But we must stay calm and continue asking and searching.

"Onee-chan, why are you still looking for Master when he's right there?" Filo asked again after we finally started assembling various groups of people and monsters to help us search outside the village.

"Filo-chan, Raphtalia-chan is very worried, and I am too. This is no time for playing," even Keel-kun tried talking some sense to Filo eventually, but no matter what we told her, she wouldn't listen.

"Master, Filo is hungry," she complained in Raph-chan's direction, completely ignoring all our attempts to reason with her.

"Rafu, rafu…" Raph-chan suddenly nodded and jumped down from my arms.

"Raph-chan!"

I was about to pick her up again, but she seemed fine and proceeded to walk back towards our house. Filo followed her, as if hypnotized.

"Wait a moment, Filo, can you understand what Raph-chan is saying?" I hurried after the two of them in an attempt to finally clear the situation up.

"Yup. Master said 'alright then'," she responded and continued walking next to Raph-chan. "Master, what do we have for luuuunch?"

"Mo!" I had just about enough of her game! This is a serious situation!

I decided to let them go and continued managing the searching party. If anything happened to Raph-chan, Filo would be able to carry her to get help, hopefully. I left her in her care.


It took us all the willpower, hours of searching, and gathering and grouping everyone possible, to find absolutely nothing in the end. It's as if Naofumi-sama completely disappeared without a single trace.

I was starting to get desperate. Not even Wyndia-san could find anything about Naofumi-sama's whereabouts from Gaelion's back, flying through the sky after her arrival. Not even the Spear Hero and his flock of filolials were able to locate him. If even the Spear Hero is unable to find him and is currently panicking over it, Naofumi-sama really must've fallen in a precarious situation.

All of them were cautious of Raph-chan before, though, perhaps because she behaved differently from usual. Why does she not panic at all? Isn't she worried?

I'm trying not to panic myself.

It's probably a good idea to check up on Raph-chan and Filo, just in case, before I leave the village to look around again. I headed back towards our house.


I blinked in surprise upon finding them.

What's going on…?

I closed in, and really…

Raph-chan was sitting in front of a huge pot and seemed to be… cooking? Or at least attempting to cook, but nobody was complaining about the food's taste. They were all sitting outside, in the dining area in front of our house, as if this was an everyday occurrence.

"Raph-chan…?"

"Rafu."

She was even wearing a mini version of Naofumi-sama's cooking apron!

"Yummy food, yummy food, yummy food for Fiiilo~"

"Filo, what's the meaning of this?" I finally asked the feasting bird.

"Hmm? Onee-chan came to eeeaaaat? Master cooks yummieeees~" She exclaimed happily and continued munching on what seemed to be a thick soup of some sort.

"But- this isn't -" I sighed and put the palm of my hand over my forehead to regain my composure before I spoke again. "This isn't Naofumi-sama, Filo. This is Raph-chan," I repeated for like the tenth time today.

"More yummies, Maaasteeeer~" The girl is not listening to me at all!


Soon, the villagers split into two groups; the one on my side that continued the search, and then the other, which fully believed and accepted that Naofumi-sama is Raph-chan now.

Eventually, I returned to the village to see if he had returned while I was gone searching for him outside for hours and hours, but there were no signs of the Shield Hero whatsoever.

Stress and exhaustion was slowly enveloping me like one huge cloud covering the sun. Because of this, Keel-kun insisted on taking me back home to rest for a little while to catch my breath, eventually. I spent the whole day and night running around searching, but nobody found anything as of now.

Horrible and lonely feeling was enclosing my mind as I was trying to at least relax my body, if not my thoughts. But of course, I wasn't able to relax at all.

I must find him. At all cost.

"Lay down, Raphtalia-chan. You're exhausted. Please, rest a little before you continue searching," Keel-kun insisted and pushed me back down on the bed when I was getting up to go outside again.

But like this, we're losing so much time!

Like this, I won't be able to find and help Naofumi-sama!

Like this, I fail being Naofumi-sama's sword…

Like this… it can't end well…

Like this… Naofumi-sama will…

Naofumi-sama…

...


"Rafu."

A noise brought me back to reality.

"Rafu?"

"Rafu, rafufu."

"Rafu rafu."

It sounded very strange. What is Raph-chan doing?

I decided to sit up and look, but then my jaw dropped.

There were two Raph-chans entering the room together, watching me stare at them in disbelief. One was wearing the green cape wrapped around her neck, and the other one looked normal. There were two identical Raph-chans approaching me!

I sat up straight on the bed as my tail hair poofed in all directions. What is this? Why are they multiplying!?

Ah, now I get it… I must be hallucinating from how stressed I am… There's no way there would be two identical Raph-chans, right? There are Raph species, but they all have one difference or another, but these two looked the exact same, apart from their expressions and the costume.

"Rafu, rafuuu," the ordinary looking Raph-chan jumped on the bed.

"Rafu rafu ra," the other one stared directly in my eyes, "rafufufu," she said as she tapped her chest with her paw. It was the one with the cape, and she seemed to be doing some kind of a gesture at me.

"Rafu," she pointed at the other Raph-chan, "Rafufufu," she tapped her chest.

I don't understand!

"Huh…?"

I think I'm going crazy, but the Raph-chan with a cape started pawing at the floor, and then glancing at me.

I defeatedly stood up and approached her to look at what she's trying to show me.

She's… writing letters on the floor with her tiny paws. I furrowed my eyebrows as I concentrated to understand it.

"Nao…fu… mi…?" I blinked. That's what she gesticulated and then tapped on her chest again.

No.

I don't believe that.

"You're not Naofumi-sama!" I panicked and protested the moment I understood what the Raph-chan was trying to say.

"Rafu rafu ra…" she narrowed her eyes.

Then suddenly, other villagers entered the house, out of nowhere, and started talking one over another, about Naofumi-sama turning into Raph-chan…

Ruft-kun looked especially excited about it and instantly started playing with both Raph-chans while laughing maniacally. He also looked like Raph-chan!

I clutched my head. That's enough. It's not Naofumi-sama! My Naofumi-sama is not Raph-chan!

Of that I'm sure!

Aaaaargh!