"Guee… Guee…" Firo whined, pushing herself into the sleeping form of Shirou.

"So hot…" Shirou groaned, trying to push her away with one hand, but Firo persisted in pushing up against him until she finally got him up. "What do you want now?"

Shirou pushed himself up out of the hay and turned to face the young Filolial. It took a few moments for Shirou's eyesight to become accustomed to the pale moon light that snuck through the cracks in the woodwork of the barn, but when he did his eyes widened and his eyebrows shot up.

Filo's growth had continued while Shirou had been sleeping and had taken a strange direction. Where before she had been seeming to tend towards the same appearance as all the other Filolials with a long and slender neck and being around six and a half feet tall, now she looked as though she might have been of an entirely different species.

Her appearance was closer to the one she had as a newborn baby chick, looking nearly as wide as tall, only scaled up to being over eight feet tall and six feet wide. She looked as if she weighed around two tons. Her feather had faded to a glossy white, save for a small plum of pink in the center of her chest as well as small specks on her wings. Two extra long feathers extended from over her eyes, like eyebrows, framing her head quite well and making her look adorable… or as adorable as a bird big enough to swallow someone whole could look.

"Firo, what happened to you?" Shirou asked as he pet the bird's now almost invisible neck. Firo only tilted her head and looked at him with a confused expression… Kawaii. In response to Shirou's question, two windows opened up in Shirou's vision; entries from the Monster Book, complete with pictures. One was on Filolials and had a description of their eating and territorial habits, as well as their love of carriages and their rivalries with lesser dragons and griffons. The second was of something that made Shirou nearly choke.

[Filolial Queens/Kings]

There on the top of the page was a picture of another bird that looked almost exactly the same as how Filolial looked now. Shirou skimmed over the page for information. They were the elites of their race, with inherent knowledge of many things, including magic. A full grown Filolial Queen can bend space around them, creating a mist which can neither be entered nor escaped from, simply by flexing their power. This was thought of as their means of marking their territory. There were also a few paragraphs mentioning how the original Filolial Queen had defeated both the Dragon Emperor and the Griffon King, the most powerful members of their respective species, races that are considered to be among the most powerful of Phantasmal Beasts in Shirou's world.

Apparently, Shirou had hit the jackpot. But as Shirou knew all to will, with great power come great hunger. Firo's belly rumbled and the now giant bird started to whine for food and continue to nudge him.

"Alright, I get it, I get it." Shirou said as he pulled out a large quality of the baked strips of meat that he had been using Jian to create on mass. He continued to feed her until she seemed to be satisfied. That single meal had been roughly 200 pounds of meat, enough to feed 50 men for a full day.

He glanced at his stock to see how he was doing for food, but even with the amount Firo ate, his surplus just kept going up. Each of the monster dogs were the size of a horse, if a little on the leaner side of things, and as such had about 500 pounds of useable meat on them, a lot of it being of lower quality, which Shirou fed into Jian's cooking function, as regardless of the quality of meat that went in, the output was always the same.

This meant that as long as Shirou continued to hunt larger monsters, or smaller monsters in large enough numbers, feeding Firo wouldn't be too hard. It wouldn't be like Saber, where he had to actually buy the food. Life would have been easier back then if they could have just gone out into the forest every day and hunted a bear for her to eat.

"Well, since we are already up, how about we hunt a little more." Shirou said as he got up. His menu told him that it was around 6am. "If we work hard, we can pull in enough food for the people in this village to eat for a while." Without preservatives the meat wouldn't last long, no matter how much Shirou got them, but it would at least give them a week where they could focus on rebuilding instead of having to worry about getting more food. The village had inflated due to refugees, so they had 150 mouths to feed. 150 mouths, 4 pounds of food a day per person, for about 7 days, means 4200 pounds of food. So 9 of those monster dogs, or something of similar size, would do be more than enough. And if Shirou brought the bodies back whole, he wouldn't have to answer uncomfortable questions about how he managed to carry so much in his backpack.

As he was getting ready to go, another textbox from Jian popped up.

[Warning: Basic Monster Slave Seal is insufficient in controlling a Filolial Queen]

"Is that so? Well, I hadn't been using the thing anyways." Shirou said, though he did feeling a little bit uncomfortable with the idea of not have a fallback when dealing with something that could take down a dragon. Still, what the Monster Dealer had said about animal imprinting and loyalty seemed to check out. Shirou would just have to keep an eye on her to make sure she didn't do anything bad. She was a big eater, which meant he could probably control her with food in he needed to, like training a dog using treats.

[Some items can help unlock new forms for the Legendary Weapons. Try to give your weapon a sample of everything.]

"Great, you are demanding to be fed too, huh?" Shirou said as he looked down on the ground. He picked up one of the pink and white feathers that Firo had shed in the night and fed it to the sword.

Requirements met: [Beastmaster's Sword III (0/40) Unlocked – Base Power: 8 – Equip Bonus: Monster Growth Up (medium) (unmastered) – Proficiency: (0%)]

Another form to increase the rate of Firo's stat growth, and her stats were already getting rather scary. How long would it be before she reached Servant levels of strength? In the back of his mind he couldn't help but to imagine Illya riding proudly on Firo's back, commanding her in the same manner she used to command Berserker.

Maybe this wasn't such a good idea.

"Guee?" Firo tilted her head, having noticed Shirou's worried expression. Cute, large, and powerful. Oh yes, Illya was going to love Firo.

"It's nothing. Let's go."

It took three trips, since they couldn't carry more than three of those larger monsters at a time, do more to their awkward size and shape rather than their weight. Each time they came back they just left the bodies next to the storage room at the back of the village before going out again to get more.

The hunting was rather hectic though when compared to before. Firo would run in before Shirou even had time to get prepared and would trample the monsters to death before they even had time to fight back. Firo also kept running in front of Shirou and squatting down on the ground in front of him, trying to get him to climb on her back. At first, he did so, but after being thrown off while trying to ride her without any sort of saddle or reigns as she ran at speeds that approached Servant levels, Shirou decided to stop and just try to endure her puppy dog eyes… he only gave in twice more.

How in the world does a bird manage to have a quavering lower lip?

Still, if he could actually find a saddle for her, he might yet finally gain his Rider qualifications.

"That should do it." Shirou said, tossing the massive corpse he had been hauling down onto the ground next to the others. "Now to say our goodbyes and hit the road."

"Gueee…" Shirou glanced over at Firo, who was looking down at the corpses and licking her beak.

"Don't tell me you are hungry again." Shirou said, glancing at his clock to confirm that it was only 8:30. She had just eaten two and a half hours ago, and she was already hungry? Still, Firo nodded her affirmative. "Alright, alright, I'll give you some more food."

This was getting ridiculous. Shirou vaguely wondered if he was over feeding her. He didn't know what the nutritional demands of a Filolial were. Did Filolial Queens even eat the same amount as normal Filolial?

After feeding Firo once again, Shirou started to head into the village, planning on just telling them where he left the monster bodies, give them some instructions on how best to prepare the meat, and getting out before they found the sack of coins that he left with them. But as he got closer he started to hear people shouting.

"You bastard! You absolute bastard! How could you possibly do this!? We promised those children's parents that if anything happened that we would look after them! Do you think Martha would have done this to your little Abby if it had been us dead instead of them!?" A stern looking woman with a stout face was screaming at one of the ranchers at the top of her lungs. It looked as if the entire village had gathered together because of whatever had happened. The adults all had looks of disgust or hatred in their eyes, while the children clung to whoever would have them and were trembling.

"The village is going to be having trouble keeping up with the number of mouths as it is. Those kids will have a better chance with…" The man tried to offer a defense, but the woman wouldn't have it.

"Better chance? Better chance!? Do you actually believe that hogwash!? You sold them out! You bastard!" She shouted and bent down to pick up a rock to throw at the man.

Shirou grabbed the woman's wrist before she could send the rock flying. One rock often turned to many, and he would rather not watch a man get stoned. The woman was so surprised when she saw Shirou there that she dropped the rock she was about to throw. Or maybe she was looking at Firo who was standing right behind Shirou. "Can someone explain to me what is going on?" Shirou asked in an attempt to break the flow of what was about to happen.

"Shirou-sama, I thought… thought you had already left the town." The village head said in surprise, also looking at the very different bird from the one he had saw the night before.

"No, Firo and I were just doing some hunting. Thought I would leave a little extra food here so that you wouldn't have to worry about it while you rebuilt." Shirou replied before asking again for an explanation of what was going on.

"Well… you see." The village head started nervously rubbing his knuckles, glancing from Shirou, to the woman, to the rancher, and then at the crowd around them. He was a good man, but he was far too jumpy. Shirou wished he would just spit it out already. "They… they took the demihuman children. Slave hunters that is."

"Slave hunters?" Shirou repeated in surprise. Since Jian had a Slaver's Sword, Shirou guessed that slavery was a thing in this world, but he hadn't come across it yet. But even if slavery existed, most societies had strict rules about how one became a slave. "Forgive my ignorance, by I thought that slavery was a fate for debtors and criminals, not orphan children."

Slavery usually started out as a means for people who lived with inescapable debt or petty crimes to escape from an endless cycle of poverty and prison and manage to survive and benefit society. And in this state, slavery wasn't even such a bad thing. Slave practices were usually well managed so that no one was abused and slaves could eventually earn their freedom. It was only when some individuals in society become 'undesirables' that things can turn dark, and fast.

"Strictly speaking… yes. Those are the only two ways of becoming a slave, as set by a wise ruler in the past… however…" The man licked his lips as he searched for the words. "Slave labor… tends to be in rather high demand. Higher than the supply. Especially certain more… unique slaves."

"Unique slaves?" Shirou said, dreading the answer.

"Sex slaves." The woman spat. "Kitsunes are considered extremely valuable, especially… the young virgin girls…" Her anger slowly turned to trembling sobs. "How could you? How could you sell those poor children out? How…?"

Shirou's heart sank. His thoughts went back to the young fox girl who had been at dinner the night before. She had been a pretty young thing with golden blond hair, silver eyes, and a gentle face. The memories of Sakura, and what Shinji did to her came to the front of Shirou's mind.

The ranch's shoulders sank even further than before, and he looked at the ground in shame. "They were the new Marque's men, and high levels. They would have burned the village to the ground if they found out we were hiding the children from them… and… the village needed the money… to help with all the extra mouths we have to feed…"

"So the Marque of these lands is supporting black market slavery?" Shirou asked, looking to the village head for confirmation.

"Nearly all the lords in the whole country do, so long as they are demihumans. Our pervious lord… The Duke was an honorable man and would have never took part in such a thing, but he died during the Wave." The village head admitted with shame.

"I see." Shirou said with a nod. "One last question. Which way did they go?"

"Excuse me?" The village head asked in surprise.

"You've all done your duty as citizens in helping the Marque's men, but there are a lot of bandits on the roads these days. It would be a shame if something happened." Shirou said with a sideways smile. "I think I will go and see if they don't need help in delivering their cargo. After all, I am a mercenary. And please don't lynch this poor man. Living with what he did should be punishment enough."

Without the dense trees and uneven ground, riding Firo bareback became a lot more doable, even if Shirou still had to hold on for dear life. In a straight forward run on the dirt road, Firo was reaching speeds of around 70 mph, comparable to the max speeds of a cheetah, only the bird was able to keep that speed up for mile after mile. So while the Slavers had a two-hour head start, Firo caught up to them in just a few minutes.

There were seven slavers, sitting in an open wagon pulled by a sort of dinosaur like creature that could have been one of those lesser species of dragons. The demihuman children were tied up behind the wagon, their hands bound by chains that pulled them along, forcing them to run in order to try to keep up, least they fall and start to be dragged behind the wagon. There were sixteen children in all, ranging from the ages of ten to fifteen, with three smaller kids who were too weak to keep up tied up in the back of the wagon.

The disgusting thing was, the wagon was large enough to hold everyone if they squeezed together. The men were making the children run for kicks. Laughing if any of them stumbled.

They stopped laughing when Firo arrived. Caught up to the procession before the men knew what was happening and jumped over all of the children and the wagon before delivering a devastating kick to the dino's neck, killing it in an instant and sending it down to the ground with a very satisfying crunching sound.

"What the hell!" One of the slavers shouted. The sentiment was echoed by several of the others.

With Firo no longer moving, Shirou was able to sit up tall on her back and look down at the shocked men in the wagon. "Sorry about that, but you know how much Filolial's hate lizards." Shirou said with a bit of a smirk. As he said this, Firo bent her head down and actually started to tear into the reptile's neck and was beginning to eat it. "You just ate fifteen minutes ago." Shirou said with a sigh before turning back to the slavers, gathering a murderous aura around himself. "Now then… if you release those children into my custody, I will let you walk out of here with your lives. So, what will it be?"

"You… you think you can just barge in here, kill our dragon horse and then threaten us!? Do you know who we are!?" One of the slavers shouted, the largest of them, and the one that had scars running down her face. Probably their leader.

"No, and I honestly don't care." Shirou said, dismounting from Firo's back and skillfully drew his swords. "Release the children, now."

"L… Let's get him boys!" The slaver shouted, drawing his own sword.

The seven slavers were more coordinated than the adventurers had been, and seemed to be a bit stronger and more skilled as well. Not that it made a difference. They would need a hundred years of combat experience before they were ready to fight someone like Shirou.

The slavers surrounded him and tried to force him into turning his back to one of the others. It was a sound plan, but Shirou wouldn't have it. Offense is the best defense. He broke through the formation with ease, breaking the fingers of one of the men with a pummel strike on his hand when he went for a swing and knocking a second down with a hit from the flat of the blade to his face.

They tried to chase after him, but that was a mistake, as they were now coming at him from a single direction and in single file, leaving Shirou to take them down one after another without any trouble at all. Shirou disarmed six of the seven slavers in twenty seconds, leaving them injured, but still very much alive. The last one was unfortunate enough to have walked right behind Firo, who kicked him hard enough to send in flying fifteen feet back into a tree.

"Just make it easier on yourselves and give up." Shirou told them as he stepped on one of the dropped swords, reinforcing his strength until he had enough power to snap the blade underneath his heel.

"You… You demihuman loving bastard. You're a traitor, that's what you are! A traitor to all humans!" The slaver leader shouted at Shirou as he cradled a broken nose. "Well, if you love demihumans so much, then you are really going to love this! Hey kids!" Shirou's heart sank at the look on the man's face. "I order you all to die!"

"No!" Shirou shouted in panic. The children screamed and began to spasm as electricity danced across their bodies, the slave seals starting to 'punish' them until their bodies would collapse. His mind started to try to run through options of what to do. There wasn't enough time to remove the slave seals, not from so many of them.

There was only one option.

As the slaver laughed at the look of horror on Shirou's face, that look disappeared to be replaced with one of resolve. The man didn't even have time to register this face though. Within the span of a single breath, Shirou had crossed the distance between the two of them… and cut off the man's head.

The screams from the children slowed to a stop to be replaced by weak sobs. They were still in horrible pain from the after effects of the magic seals, but they were all still breathing.

"You killed him." A second slaver said in shock. "You… you won't get away with this! You and that village will all pay for what you've done!"

The fool didn't even realize that what he just said had sealed his fate. Shirou took a long, deep breath. "You know, I was going to have let you all live." He said as he started to walk towards the other slavers. "People like you make it so damn hard to be a proper hero."