"So, you're telling me that Raphtalia and Filo both reached level forty a week ago, but they haven't been able to class up because the Church claimed that the Dragon Hourglass needed to be 'purified' after having been 'corrupted' by an extremely powerful Lich. Do I have that right?"

Malty nodded. "The worst part is that they're telling the truth, about the Lich at the very least. Papa said that he was meeting with Pope Balmus when an undead man with powerful magic entered the cathedral, acted as if he was registering with the Hourglass and then left. Papa isn't sure if the Hourglass was actually corrupted, but he doesn't want to take any risks."

I felt my eye twitch as I thought of a certain Otherworldly Vassal Hero that fit the description of a walking, rotting corpse. 'God damnit Hanz!' God damn the Church too; they'd use any excuse they could to keep Naofumi weak. I groaned and massaged my aching head before chugging what remained of my beer and standing up. "Let's go get Naofumi and the others, we've got three party members who need to Class Up and there's only three hours before the next Wave. I bet the Church is just using the Lich as an excuse to keep the 'Shield Devil' from getting stronger, and I'm not letting them get away with that bullshit." And I doubt that the Hourglass can even be 'corrupted', especially by a Hero, even if they're undead. "I'll fucking break down the doors if I have to."

I motioned for my party to stay where they were for now as Malty stood up before leading the way as the two of us went to get the rest of the Shield Hero's party. "Speaking of party members..." She glanced back over her shoulder, probably at Euryale, who had been, adorably, struggling to learn how to eat with utensils, due to the fact that she usually just unhinged her jaw and swallowed things whole in her Basilisk form. "Who was that little girl you were doting on?"

I smiled. "That, my dear 'little sister', would be your niece." Malty stumbled for a second, managing to stabilize herself using the nearby wall before staring at me, her jaw moving but no sound coming out. "As it turns out, monsters achieving human form when they're raised by Heroes isn't exclusive to the Legendary Heroes. I woke up two days ago with a naked, redheaded, ten-year-old, snake-eyed girl cuddling with me and sleeping peacefully. A snake eyed girl who proceeded to call me Mama the moment she woke up."

Malty stared at me for a second before sighing and letting a smile worm its way onto her face. "Honestly, I don't know why I was even surprised. This is exactly the type of thing I should expect from you." I chuckled as we finally reached the door to what I'm assuming was the room Naofumi was staying in. Just as Malty reached to knock there was a soft thud sound from inside, followed by a surprised squeak. I held my arm out and took up a position in front of her before quietly opening the door.

An amused smirk spread over my face as soon as I realized that Raphtalia was laying on the bed and Naofumi was standing over her, arms on either side of her, clearly having caught himself while he was falling. Even though it was obvious that this wasn't a sexual situation, it was still an opportunity I couldn't pass up. So, I cleared my throat to get their attention. "I guess that Malty and I will come back later." The way their faces turned red as I shut the door, followed by the panicked sputtering and footsteps made me giggle.

I looked to my left to see Malty looking at me, arms crossed over her chest and an eyebrow raised. "Really?" I shrugged as the door was torn open by an embarrassed Raphtalia and an annoyed Naofumi.

I looked back and smirked at the duo. "Alright Lovebirds, let's go get you guys..." I paused upon realizing that there were, in fact, only two people in the room. "Where's the Filolial-girl?"

Malty let out a nervous chuckle beside me. "We... Left her at the Castle because she and Melty wanted to play..."

I felt my eye twitch as I realized we would now have two hours, at most, to get Filo, Raphtalia and Euryale to class up. And that was only if we found them instantly in the huge castle.

We only had thirty minutes left when we finally reached the Church. "Duchess, I'm sorry but we can't allow anyone to Class-Up, the pope believes that the Hourglass has been corrupted and-"

"Sister." I kept my tone even, but there was a noticeable edge to my voice, causing the young nun to flinch. "There's an easy way to tell if the Hourglass is corrupted or not. Go get some sand from the Hourglass so we can absorb it into our weapons, if there's something wrong, the weapons will tell us." She hesitated for a moment before glancing at the Hourglass. "Sister, please. The longer the Church tries to weaken the Shield Hero, the more people will die to the Waves." Now she looked conflicted.

"Sister, please do as Duchess Anderson asks, we have finished the ritual to purify the Hourglass." The calm, fatherly sound of the voice of Biscas T. Balmus was enough to convince the nun to act. As she went to go get the sand like had I asked, I turned to face Biscas as he approached, momentarily stopping to tell my daughter to follow Rifana, who I asked to help her Class-Up. "Duchess Anderson."

I gave a slight bow, my stomach churning as I did. As much as I hated the man, as a Duchess courtesy demanded that I show at least some respect to the highest-ranking member of the state religion. "Your Holiness."

He was wearing that bullshit; 'I love everyone, as we are all God's children' smile. "I heard what you said about the Church attempting to keep the Shield Hero weak. While I understand why you would be led to believe that I can assure you that is not the case. I, loath as I am to admit, realize that all four of the Cardinal Heroes are needed to repel the Waves. I do not intend to allow the world to be destroyed, even if I must go against my faith to prevent it."

'That's bullshit and we both know it.' I let a fake ass smile work its way onto my face. "Thank you, your Holiness. I am glad to see that the Three Heroes Church is able to realize when faith and beliefs should be set aside for the greater good. I hope that you will continue to support the Heroes, at least until the Waves have been defeated." I turned to look at the group I had entered with, just in time to see the young nun from before returning with two small pouches of the red sand from the Hourglass.

I checked the time left until the Wave as I absorbed the sand, unlocking the Dragon Hourglass Sand Dagger.

Time until next Wave

1:00

0:59

0:58

I closed my eyes and took a deep breath as I prepared for the familiar, nauseating feeling of having your entire body instantly transported from one place to another.

The moment the Duchess, Shield Devil and their parties vanished in a flash of light Biscas tightened his grip so hard that his hand began to bleed. The absolute heresy he had been forced to spout in order to keep up appearances in front of the Duchess and First Princess was the final straw. It was time to do God's work.