I reworded this note in the previous chapter, but I want to clarify my intentions. I mean that Naofumi won't be forced to go out as a traveling merchant and become "Savior of the Heavenly Fowl" since his reputation is still okay. He will most likely hear a rumor and investigate rather than stumble upon them when he does.
Sorry for the delay. I've been spending more time reading fics instead of writing them in my free time. Honestly, sometimes I forget that I'm an author and people enjoy these. I love the reviews though. The more recent reviews have brought my attention back here.
drmcgraw186
I really, and I mean really, want to implement more assassinations, but you can't really assassinate monsters, and that's what this show is all about. I plan on having Naofumi more involved in the politics of Melromarc. Just be prepared for when he meets the queen. :)
OeshnerC
My break is coming soon so hopefully, I can get chapters out faster for a month or so. I hope you keep reading!
Demonic Rebel & RedBurningDragon
I will definitely keep your ideas in mind. But that whole mess is for after the wave which is in... 2 weeks' time in the fic, so I still have time.
Guest
Thank you! I will try my best to meet your expectations.
wolves567
I know that Naofumi doesn't know that the kingdom is a matriarchy, but it's mainly because he has been focusing on surviving right now. He has that wave timer so he's more aware of that than kingdom affairs.
undershield
For Idol, the T-Rex probably won't appear because Naofumi will ensure his death, rather than leave him on the ground like in canon. Then, for the zombie dragon, he will probably have the poison resistances he needs, so he may take care of it. Also, it's not a plague, but rather poison I guess that originates from the zombie dragon. The monster plant will probably become very widespread, and have a large emergency announcement for its suppression. For the immigrants, it is unknown that the Bow hero was the one who did it, since he is incognito, but Naofumi will not be the one who finds out, since it is another country, and he's not too worried about it, so no war.
Drcaus
I have heard of Azur Lane, Genshin Impact, Arknights, and Alchemy Stars, although I don't see how that has to do with anything.
Kalebgrimm
If anything, he won't have to, as it will be too suspicious if she is all over Naofumi despite being with Motoyasu this entire time.
Kairan1979
The thing with buying Raphtalia, is that she was in the best condition. The rabbit had a genetic disorder and the lizard was too volatile. Raphtalia was just sick and panicky. Something that can be easily fixed.
WN-Bruh
I plan to not make a harem, but rather a large group of assassins. They will see Naofumi as a savior of sorts, saving them from their respective situations and helping them grow. But there will be minimal romance. Raphtalia will be like their kid, and a treasured party member.
Warning: The following story will contain a lot of murder, blood, typical murder stuff, except I'm not that good of a writer and have no idea what I'm doing so it probably won't be very gory.
Chapter 9: EXP Grinding
"Talking"
'Thinking'
Transition…
[Skills / Abilities / System]
When Naofumi woke up, he felt a bit anxious and a bit excited. This was the day they would test their combat prowess and endurance. He felt that Raphtalia was a bit too young for something like this, but he was sure she was skilled enough to hold her own. Quickly doing his morning routine, he began to plan for the day.
'From morning to afternoon will be spent fighting monsters, and I will most likely dissect them all. But I could leave it... but that's a waste of money and materials. Especially if it decays or is stolen on our way back to it. That will definitely slow down production unless I stay back while the girls hunt... but I need to protect them when necessary. Hm... What if I just stay nearby and keep an eye on them. Yeah, that could work. Now we just need bait.'
Naofumi woke the girls from their slumber before going down and buying 6 plates of food. Raphtalia and been eating normal-sized portions recently. He didn't know if that was a good thing or not. It seemed to correlate with her growth, so she'll start eating more again after today.
While the girls began to get ready, Naofumi went to Erhard to check on the armor.
"Ah, Kiddo! Just in time. I finished up that armor of yours. It's a real masterpiece."
"Really?" Naofumi deadpanned, skeptical of the quality of the armor since it was made with basic monster parts.
"Nah! I'm just messing with you. Rest assured, it's still of great quality. I call it Hound Armor."
"Wow... Hound Armor. Very creative."
"Hey! It's hard to come up with a new name when you've used a bunch already. I already used ranger armor, hunter armor, and beast armor. What more do you want?"
"What about Wolfsbane?"
"That's a dagger's name already."
"I... What about... You know what, it's fine."
"Yeah, that's what I thought."
Naofumi took the armor and went to the changing room. He absorbed the armor into the gem of his shield, giving the notification he hadn't seen in a while.
New Outfit:
{Name the Set}
'Should I say Hound Armor? I mean, Wolfsbane sounds better... I suppose I should respect Erhard's work.'
"Hound Armor."
New Outfit:
[Hound Armor]
'Now, let's see how it looks. Hound Armor.'
The Starting Armor disappeared, and in its place was the new set of armor, consisting of a leather chest plate, armored pants, fur boots, and gloves.
The padded shirt was mainly black, with grey fur on the less protected areas, with fur on the inside for comfort. On the front was a steel breastplate that covered the top half of his body while leaving him mobile. The pants were black with padding on the thighs and knee pads. From what he could tell, the pads had a lightweight plate of metal to protect them from slashing damage. The boots were gray with fur on the inside and metal-reinforced shinguards. The toes were armored with steel and had metal claws on the tips of the boots. The gloves were similarly made, with fur lining and gray padding. The wrist area was armored with metal plates and the knuckles had small 1-inch claws, similar to the boots.
Erhard had a grin on his face as Naofumi left the changing room with his new armor.
"Looking good!"
"Thanks. You were right, it is good."
"What can I say?" Erhard said while puffing out his chest.
"So, how much will it cost?"
"Hm, well... 430 silver."
"Huh? I thought it would be 400 or less?"
"Well. I stayed up all night and closed down the shop for this custom armor, so it's the least I could ask for."
"You didn't have to do that."
"Well, it's the least I could do for a Cardinal Hero, and besides," Erhard's formed a smug grin, "I could squeeze some money out for it."
"Ha! You're right. Anyhow, thanks, Erhard."
"No problem! Just keep coming back!"
"You know it."
Naofumi left the payment on the counter and left. He had 5 gold and a decent amount of silver, so he should be fine if he bought something. He left the weapons store and made his way over to the magic store. Upon entering, he was greeted by the witch.
"Why hello again! It has been a while since you came back. I was worried you'd given up on magic."
"No, I just needed to make sure I had a good amount of money to afford such a thing and still live comfortably."
"I see, I see. Well, which grimoire did you want? Do you want support magic or healing magic?"
"Do you have any light magic?"
"Ooh, for the young miss. I do have one."
"Is that so."
"Yes. It'll cost you 4 gold."
"Oh, ok... I'm sorry what?"
"4 gold."
"But it used to be-"
"450 silver?"
"Yeah."
"Well, a woman has to make a living somehow. And besides, I have a feeling it'll be worth it."
"Very well. It's your shop, not mine."
'I feel like I'm going soft. Well, I suppose that isn't a bad thing.'
He returned to the inn, satisfied with the new attire. It didn't feel quite as nice as his own armor, but it was still good nonetheless. The girls seemed to agree, as they seemed fascinated with the new armor.
"You know, I didn't think you would get new armor for yourself," Eclair quipped with a thoughtful look on her face.
"Hey, I have to protect myself too you know. Especially if we're going to be fighting all day."
"I suppose. Well, we've packed everything up, so let's go."
The party left the inn and made their way westward, keeping a good speed by training their endurance running. They took a few breaks, fighting off some monsters that became too curious. They eventually made their way east, past Riyute Village and into the forest. The monsters they encountered became far more beastly as they progressed, stopping in a small clearing in the forest.
They had a small break and ate lunch. Tension hung in the air as the party readied themselves to search for prey they'd never hunted before. Something strong enough to net them lots of EXP but weak enough where they wouldn't die. It was hard to find that balance when encountering a new monster.
The rustling of leaves alerted the party to an approaching enemy. Naofumi quickly gave a few silent gestures, prompting the party to split up. Raphtalia and Eclair hid behind some bushes, while Naofumi gracefully climbed a tree, looking out at the approaching enemy. The footsteps became more prominent than the sound of rustling leaves as a large black bear lumbered into the area. It was probably as tall as he was on four legs and weighed enough to leave deep imprints in the dirt. It stuck its nose into the air, sniffing for a few moments before starting to approach the bushes that Eclair was hiding in.
'Fuck, I didn't think that it had a good sense of smell.'
Naofumi quickly slammed his hidden blades together, causing a resounding clang to ring throughout the area. The bear swung its head at Naofumi, spotting his figure in the tree. It charged at him, slamming into the tree. Naofumi braced and held onto the branches. Despite being a large tree, it still shook violently, its roots threatening to emerge from the ground as the bear clawed at him. He switched to his original shield and dove at the bear, striking the bear's head with the shield, dazing it.
"NOW!"
Raphtalia and Eclair emerged from the shrubbery and rushed the dazed monster with blades drawn. The bear didn't last long as the two women tore through it with precise coordination. In a few moments, the bear's tendons were severed, its eyes punctured, and bleeding heavily. It thrashed wildly in a last-ditch attempt to kill its prey. The party retreated a fair distance, waiting for the bear to slow. Eventually, the bear stumbled from blood loss, allowing Eclair to plunge her blade into its neck, killing it.
+723 EXP
He had to admit, Motoyasu knew what he was talking about. The bear net a decent amount of EXP for the amount of work and time that went into killing it.
"Alright. I'm going to start dissecting. Can you two watch the perimeter for me?"
"Sure."
"Hai, Naofumi-sama!"
The dissection process went fairly quickly, with the [Two-Headed Black Dog Meat Shield] and its {Dissection 2} skill. Luckily most of the blood was lost during the fight, speeding the process up immensely, although the hide was in poor condition. There were many slashes in it, although he couldn't fault the others. This was mainly about finishing the target rather than getting the most out of it. He quickly dissected the bear, absorbed some of it, and stored the rest.
[Bear Fang Shield - 0%]
-Equip Bonus-
+10 ATK
[Bear Hide Shield - 0%]
-Equip Bonus-
Agility 2
[Bear Meat Shield - 0%]
-Equip Bonus-
Cooking 2
[Bear Bone Shield - 0%]
-Equip Bonus-
Defense 6
'Hm... nothing too interesting, other than the fang. It's still not that much compared to the other stats. Welp, enough of that. There are more monsters to hunt.'
"I'm done!"
The party gathered around, about to set off when a pair of black and brown bears approached the group.
'Note to self, do not shout in a forest of infested monsters. Rookie mistake.'
Night...
The party had taken their stuff and set up camp outside of the forest instead of inside like they had planned as they encountered far more monsters than they expected. They had gained 5 levels each, although it tapered out. Perhaps it would've been better to start with the Forest Hounds, but that's in the past now. On the bright side, Raphtalia had grown tremendously in skill. Her swordplay had grown greatly, although it was focused on monsters than people. Although she has begun to eat a lot more again. They wouldn't be able to sell that meat after all.
From what Naofumi has gathered so far, is that they will be fighting people soon. From the slavers to corrupt officials and spies. Naofumi would have to start training Raphtalia in combat with humans, or at least humanoids.
Naofumi was cooped up in a tree as a lookout while the others slept like logs. Today had been physically taxing yet rewarding for them. He did minimal fighting, using hit-and-run techniques to stun the enemies to let the others finish it off. Now he was performing maintenance on their weapons while being on the lookout.
This wasn't going to be a regular thing, he decided. Grinding was too risky during and after the fact to do continuously. Especially when killing high-leveled people, where 1 high-level could net a couple of levels.
Naofumi continued to maintain the weapons, as he rested his mind. He could let instinct take the reins for now.
The Next Day...
The party met no resistance in the night. The forest seemed to be home to the bears and they had crippled their numbers. They set off back to town to sell their goods, stopping by Riyute to rest, eat, and sell as much as possible. They spent the rest of the afternoon traveling to the capital. Once they arrived, Raphtalia was on the verge of passing out and Eclair was tired as well.
"How about you two, go to the inn and sleep? We can rest tomorrow too."
"Are you sure?"
"Yeah, I'll go sell our materials and explore the town."
"If you say so. Come on Raphtalia, let's get you to bed."
Naofumi watched the two leave. As they rounded the corner, Naofumi went to sell the bear parts.
Once he arrived, his worries turned out to be true.
"Hm... these hides are in poor condition. While usable, its worth has definitely dropped."
"How much?"
"I would say that it's usually 20-ish silver, but now I would say maybe 8."
"Damn. Well, I have 22 other large pelts."
"Very well, that will be 150 silver for you-"
"Hold it. I can do the math you know."
"What? My bad, I meant 165-"
"Don't test me, old man."
"O-Oh... I'm sorry sir that will be 176 silver for you.
"Good, now, I have some bones here, and I expect a little extra since a certain someone tried to scam me."
"Of course! Right away."
Naofumi began to pour out a huge mountain of large bear bones.
"Oh... Oh my..."
"So, old man, how much is it per bone. How much is it per bone?"
The trader's voice wavered, his eyes glancing to the side. "Since bones aren't that useful, that will be 1 silver per-"
Naofumi grabbed the man's collar and yanked him forward, hidden blade drawn and held against the trader's neck. He shivered at the feeling of cold metal against his jugular.
"Don't test me you bastard," Naofumi growled, "It would be a shame to have a shop close down."
"EEEEK! My humblest apologies, sir! Each bone is 5 per bone, but for you, I'll do 10!"
"Good." Naofumi dropped the man, leaving him gasping in fear.
"I'm waiting."
"Right away!"
The man began counting each bone. The man's face fell deeper into despair as he kept counting more and more. In the end, he counted over a hundred ribs and leg bones.
"U-Um, good sir. I don't think I have the capital to buy all of it."
"Well, how much can you buy?"
The trader hesitated, intent clear in his body language, although a harsh glare from Naofumi straightened him up real quick.
"I can do around buy around 30 bones, but any more and I will have too many bones to be able to sell well."
"Well seeing as you tried to screw me over, let me remind you, twice, I think you can do better."
The blood drained from the trader's face as Naofumi stared into his soul.
"Ahem... Very well. I'll buy 100 bones."
'100 times 10 is 1000 silver or 10 gold. That's a lot of gold. Oh right!'
Naofumi quickly hid his shield under his cloak and changed to the [Gold Coin Shield].
So that will be 1001 silver. Would you like silver or gold?"
"Gold."
The man's knees went weak.
"Fine. Whatever. Here."
The trader handed over a small pouch filled with gold coins. Naofumi quickly counted through the coins, counting 10 gold and 1 silver. Naofumi inwardly smirked and left. Naofumi glanced back to see the trader write {NO SELLING MONSTER PARTS FOR THE TIME BEING}. Naofumi smiled smugly and walked away.
Naofumi looked at the sky, relishing in a successful trade when he saw that it was almost night. He switched to the [Assassins Brotherhood Uniform] and made his way to the rooftops. He was tempted to go ahead and assassinate the Pope when he began to think about it. He sat down on the rooftop and faced the church.
'Well, I could assassinate the Pope, but he is merely a figurehead. He can always be replaced. That was true for the Templars. No matter how many we eliminated, they always persisted. They need to be dismantled. But how? Ugh, I really need information. Perhaps I need more people in the shadows. There was no point in doing anything right now. It's better to hunt to level up for the wave. Perhaps I could get people to infiltrate the church? That sounds good.'
Naofumi shelved his thoughts for another time as he got up and left for the inn, leaping from roof to roof, his silhouette unseen against the night sky. Eventually, he arrived at the inn. He lowered himself into a nearby alley with {Rope} and changed outfits before walking into the inn. Immediately he felt two sets of eyes on him.
'Odd,' he thought, 'Usually there is only one. Perhaps having them keep disappearing was too suspicious. Good thing I have two blades.'
He scanned the public area, and although he couldn't see Eclair or Raphtalia anywhere, neither could he see the people spying on him.
'If it persists tomorrow then I'll do something about it.'
He then went up to the lodging area, scanning the rooms to see if anything could hint him to the room they had gotten. It was a very bad idea to send 2 tired people to a room and not have a meeting afterward.
*Sigh* "I guess I'm going outside tonight," he mumbled.
Naofumi went down and exited the inn, heading towards the slave trader to browse some goods. He did say that he was a monster trader as well. Perhaps having trained animals will aid him in travel and combat. He meshed into the night crowd and emerged in his [Assassins Brotherhood Uniform]. He then went through the labyrinthine alleyways to the hidden slave trader's tent. Naofumi put his hood up and entered the tent and looked for Beloukas, although he was met with an employee.
"Hello, dear customer! Welcome to Monster Mania! What can I do for you?" The employee said gleefully.
"Hello, I'm looking for Beloukas."
"Ah, the boss. He's out right now, but I can help you with anything else you need."
"Can I see the monsters?"
"Of course! Right this way."
The employee then took a path through the curtain into a small storage area. In it held cages of various sizes, ranging from a cubic foot to some being twice his height high and triple that wide.
"These are our monsters. No need to worry about them too much. They are well-fed with the best foods and are cared for. It wouldn't do good to harm our goods after all."
"Of course. So what kinds of monsters do you have."
The employee began to guide Naofumi through the array of monsters.
"Here we have a few beast animals like the forest wolf, the giant black bear, the usapils. We also have the reptiles, like the paralytic snake, the fire-back salamander, the iron-shell turtle, oh, over there is the swamp alligator, one of the most feared monsters in the swamps. We also have insect-type monsters. We have the giant spider over there, right here is the venipede, or venomous centipede. A mouthful right? Anyway, there is the ground worm, the piercing-stinger hornets, and the honey beedrills."
'Very interesting, the hornet, snake, venipede, and beedrills is something I'll think about getting.'
"Wow, you have quite the catalog of monsters."
"Of course! We only sell the best. If you are interested in other monsters, we have branches across the country with different specialties. In the west are the mountains, where they have many ore-type monsters, similar to the iron-back turtle, although they have rarer materials. We also have a water monster shop in the south near the coast. And every other shop has the monsters of their region."
"Very interesting. I think I might buy some later."
"Oh, is something not to your liking?"
"Yeah, these seem to be wild. Where can I get more domesticated ones?"
"Oh, well each monster has either been branded upon capture or grown ourselves by our eggs."
"Eggs?"
"Yep. We here have eggs that he either hatch ourselves or sell to customers looking to have their own monster to care for. Honestly, the ones grown from eggs imprint on their hatchers so are far easier to take care of.
"Very interesting. May I see the eggs?"
"Of course! Right this way."
The employee began to walk to a set of tables with small crates of eggs. On each egg was a design almost the exact same as the slave crest, although there were some subtle differences.
'I guess it works differently on monsters.'
"So, right here we have monster eggs. The contents of each are random but even the most common adult monsters, the filolial, can sell for 200 silver, give or take. There's even a chance that you can get a knight's dragon which is worth 20 gold! And each egg is only 100 silver, it's a bargain!"
"Got it, so it's a scam."
The employee began to sputter at the bluntness of the customer.
"I-I, wh-wha-what do you mean? It's definitely worth the money. The filolial is the most common monster but you can still sell it or use it to your heart's content!"
"Well what's the point of selling something that loses you money?"
"Well, um... There really is no problem-"
"Really?" Naofumi deadpanned. The employee quickly crumbled as he was figured out.
"Grr. I don't know how the boss can keep a straight face," the employee grumbled. He looked back at Naofumi with a shaky smile, "Well, there just so happens to be a small, chance that you get a weak monster..."
"And?" Naofumi prodded the employee further.
"...and there is a teeny tiny chance that the eggsmightnothaveanyatall."
"Oh? Is that so? Can I hold a few?"
"Oh! Um, sure?"
Naofumi took a hold of one egg. It was heavier than the one's back in his world. These eggs were probably a foot tall and half that wide. It weighed perhaps 3 pounds, perhaps most of the weight is the monster? Naofumi carefully set it down and picked up another one. This one felt the same as the other one. He picked up another, and it was the same. Naofumi went through each egg, although there wasn't much of a difference.
"Oh!" The employee spoke up, "The boss made them all the same weight with a magic spell, so you can't figure out that way."
"Oh? Are you challenging me?"
"Eh? What are you talking about?"
Naofumi then put his ear against one of the eggs. He could hear the small heartbeat of the monster inside. He then did the same for the others, and some had a louder heart beat than the others, some were faster, and some didn't even have one at all.
He then used the empty egg as a baseline. Naofumi then knocked on each egg, making sure to be careful not to break it. The monster inside should absorb most of the sound. He could ear the different *thunks* that came from each egg. The empty egg sounded hollow, the sound resonating in the air.
'Yep, definitely hollow.'
Naofumi then when through each egg, knocking on each. One egg barely made a sound at all. That was one Naofumi was definitely choosing. He went through a few more, knocking and listening. Turns out that the empty eggs made up a quarter of them. A quick glance at the employee saw that he was worried. Most likely due to the meticulousness of the newest customer. Naofumi smirked and continued in his process. All of the other eggs were the same, either empty or had a small thunk. He chose the second quietest egg types and went to the employee.
"I'm done."
"Oh! Uh, good. Cool, cool. Uh... Oh right! For your first purchase of eggs with us you get a complimentary egg incubator to aid you! It is reusable so feel free to come back to try again."
"I see, so how much will it be."
"Um 2 eggs will be 200 silver."
Naofumi felt for the 2 gold coins that appeared in his hand and handed them over.
"Here."
"Thank you for shopping at monster mania! Here is your complimentary egg incubator! I hope you come again!"
"Of course, thank you."
"My pleasure!"
Naofumi walked away with the eggs and incubator tucked away in his storage and left. He then climbed up onto a nearby rooftop to inspect his purchase while being on the lookout for the gaudy purple suit that Beloukas wears.
Naofumi first took out the incubator and inspected it. It was shaped like an egg cup, although it was much large than the egg it was meant to hatch. The bottom half of the incubator had a soft cloth to hold the egg in. The top half had a translucent film that seemed to be made of magic. Naofumi poked it only for his finger to go through it. The inside was noticeably warmer than the outside night air. Naofumi then took the incubator and absorbed it into the shield.
[Egg Incubator Shield - 0%]
-Equip Bonus-
[Passive: Hatchery]
Will hold 1 egg to hatch. Weight will not change.
(Does not need to be equipped.)
The resulting shield looked like a large dome, with a diameter of 1.5 feet and a magic bubble on top. The soft nesting was on the bottom and seemed to defy gravity as it didn't move when Naofumi held it upside down.
'That's convenient. I won't have to carry it around carefully all the time.'
Naofumi then took one egg and inserted it inside. Once he did, the egg settled in the center and stayed there. Naofumi slowly swung his arm around but the egg stayed put. An alert came up in front of Naofumi once he settled down.
[Would you like an alert when the egg is ready to hatch?]
[Yes/No]
'Yes.'
The alert disappeared and a new icon opened on the edge of Naofumi's vision. It was a little icon with a small egg on it. Satisfied Naofumi then took out the other egg. Perhaps he could get another incubator? 'No,' he decided, 'I need to see what the first egg does before anything else.'
Naofumi stashed everything away and equipped the [Cartographer's Shield] to increase its mastery. After a few hours, Naofumi concluded that Beloukas was out of town, perhaps looking for more slaves. He decided to leave the town and find a good tree to hide in. He'd rather not spend money on an entire room. So he hid away in a tree and went to sleep. He needed as much energy as he could if he wanted to play hero.
Hey guys! I'm planning on adding Filo early since Naofumi is richer than before. Although I don't know how you all feel about having Filo instead of OCs, I set up a poll! Go to my profile and give your 2 cents!
Also, the 29 gold and 1 silver are from the Gold Coin Shield and the Silver Coin Shield, which he mastered, giving him the ability permanently.
I was thinking of absorbing the egg so that he can sacrifice monster shields to summon that monster. He won't be able to gain them back as they will be locked for access. Like he unlocked them but are unusable since they are used to summon. They won't give the benefits of mastery after the sacrifice, even if he masters it beforehand. If you have a better idea PM me.