Chapter 15:Hurting the Church.

Sorry in advance for the shit ton of notifications you gonna get from this story since I've yet again been sprucing up the older chapters.

According to the Wiki near the bottom, Iwatani is his surname, but I do agree that it's weird how all the Heroes are on a first name basis despite hating each other, so I changed it around, or at least I'm pretty sure I did, might have missed a few bits.

All rights go to their owners.

Talking: "I've been hellbent, babe."

Thinking: 'Hellbent on loving you all day long.'

"Ora!"-Otaku throwing a punch.

Kane and Naofumi sit next to each other on the driving seat of the carriage, the reins in Naofumi's hand, her grip loose due to her trusting Filo and Sakura to behave themselves as they pulled the carriage. Everyone else sits in the back of the carriage, enough space for them all.

Talking can be heard from behind the two Heroes, a conversation between all the Demi-Humans while Erhard naps peacefully.

"Can I be completely honest with you?"

Kane looks down from watching Shen fly about. Naofumi stares ahead, not wanting to take her eyes off the road. "Shoot."

Naofumi doesn't respond at first, as if she was pondering how to word what she was thinking. "Don't take any offence but when we first met I was expecting you to be more…" She moves her hands still searching for an accurate word for her thought. "American I guess."

Kane's eyes furrow. "The fuck? You mean like me running around with an Uncle Sam costume; screaming about how great America is while freeing slaves or something?"

"N-No!" Naofumi sputters. "Just you know." She stares at Kane who shrugs back unsure making her furrow her brows in an attempt to explain herself. "Like your name for example I was expecting something like… I dunno John... Walker?"

"John Walker?" A smirk on his face as he stares at Naofumi in amusement.

"It was the best American name I could come up with." Kane shakes his head, his smirk still present which aggravates Naofumi, she huffs. "You come up with a Japanese name then if it's so easy."

"Hitomi Tanuka." A grin forms on Kane's face as he says the name as if it was extremely humorous to him.

"...That's a real person isn't it? There's no way you came up with that." Suspicion clear in Naofumi's voice.

Kane snorts, crossing his arms. "It's not hard to come up with a believable name y'know."

"Hey! I can come up with completely believable names." The childish accusation somehow aggravating Naofumi.

Kane points at the Filo, his eyes still on Naofumi. "You named one of your Filolials; Filo." He turns to Filo herself. "No offence Filo."

"Filo doesn't care!" A gleeful cry from the bird, overjoyed with carrying this many people along with her fellow Filolial sister.

Naofumi crosses her arms, pouting as she's unable to make a comeback. "I still doubt you came up with the name Hitomi Tanuka."

Kane leans back in his seat, his grin still ever-present. "I would say search her up but… There's no internet so, you'll have to just trust me I guess."

Naofumi rolls her eyes, turning back to the road. A minute or so passes before Naofumi reopens her mouth to sate her curiosity yet again. "Why you were named Kane? Isn't Kane like Abel's brother from the bible?"

Kane blinks. "That's Cain, you spell it like C-A-I-N. He's the first murderer in the bible." His brow raises, curious. "Wait, how do you even know that? Don't you guys over in Japan have some other type of religion?"

"Shinto and Buddhism are the common religions. Christianity isn't anywhere as big as those two."

Kane's curiosity rises even more. "So if it isn't that common how do you know who Cain and Abel are?"

Naofumi blanks at this, quickly coming up with a response. "I saw him in a shonen manga once." Kane stares at Naofumi with suspicion, not saying a single word for his stare said enough. Naofumi keeps her head straight, trying to ignore Kane's stare. She begins silently praying for a monster or anything to distract Kane.

"There's a person ahead." Sakura blurts out, causing Kane to look away from Naofumi making her thank whatever deity helped her in her mind, letting out a silent sigh. The person blocks the road, their palms empty to show themselves as no threat.

Naofumi's mood however instantly sours as the person is revealed to be a knight. The blockade causes Naofumi's paranoia to flare up, she checks all around searching for an ambush. Finding nothing doesn't stop her rising paranoia if anything it exacerbates it. With a cold tone, she commands Filo and Sakura. "...Slow down when you get close you two."

The two Filolials do as they told, approaching the knight before slowing down to a stop. The knight lowers her arms, clearing her throat as she steps forward. "I would recommend you take another path, there's a bandit encampment near here and we're just about to go in and take th-…" The knight seems to narrow her eyes, recognizing Kane. "Wait. You're the Spear Hero… right?"

Kane's lips straighten into a line before nodding. "Yep."

The knight gains a bright smile. "That's great! Any chance you could help us out?"

After a few moments of Kane staring at the knight, he answers. "Sure."

If it was possible the smile on the knight's face would have gotten even wider. She turns around and points down the road. "My commanding officer is down this road, keep following it and you'll see a bunch of tents at the side of the road, you can't miss it."

Kane nods yet again, not saying a word to which Naofumi tugs the reins, telling Filo and Sakura to move past the knight. Leo pokes his head through from the back of the carriage, his lion ears held back by the fabric of the carriage. "What's going on?"

Naofumi stoically responds her eyes on the road ahead. "We're about to go fight some bandits, get ready Leo, and wake up Erhard." Leo nods without comment, his head disappearing into the back of the carriage.

Naofumi turns to Kane with a frown after Leo moves back. "I don't know why you agreed to that."

Kane sighs, scratching his cheek. "The Queen told me it would be a good idea cleaning up messes, same goes for you. To build up your reputation as a Hero."

Naofumi grumbles, looking ahead. "I rather work for money."

A silent laugh escapes Kane. "Don't blame you but think of it this way, it's an investment to make people like the Shield Hero more."

Naofumi gives a derisive snort, her tone like flint. "I couldn't give less of a shit about what people think of me."

"The more people like you; the more connections you make: The more connections you make the more possible jobs and opportunities to make money." Naofumi turns to Kane staring at him in shock. "Everyone thinks it's money that makes the world go round it's not, at least not 100%. It's connections and just how powerful those connections are." Naofumi continues to stare at Kane, her eyes as wide as plates. "What?"

She quickly reins in most of her surprise. "Who are you and how did you replace Kane, because that whole thing was too intelligent for him to say."

"Woooow. You really gonna do me dirty like that huh?"

Naofumi pucks her bottom lip in thought. "I didn't hear a single swear in there too, that might be the longest you've ever spoken for without swearing."

Kane shakes his head, looking ahead. "Unbelievable, I try to give some wisdom, and now I'm being roasted."

Naofumi snorts in amusement. "Wisdom? From you?"

"Hey! I can be pretty wise for my age!"

"No, you aren't." A cacophony of differing voices from the back of the wagon calls out. Naofumi smiles upon hearing the voices, while Kane rolls his eyes, muttering in disagreement.

Naofumi stares at Kane before turning back to the road her smile weakening upon seeing the camp in the distance. "You might want to call in Shen now."

Kane wordlessly places two fingers against his mouth, letting out a piercing whistle, calling Shen down, everyone with enhanced hearing cringes upon hearing the whistle, Shen flies down, stopping at the side of the carriage. Kane hands him his clothes and tells him to hop in the back of the carriage with the others, the dragon child does so wordlessly, transforming, clothing himself and then hopping in the back of the carriage.

The carriage comes upon the camp, rows of tents and stations to house Filolials. Filo and Sakura pull the carriage to open space.

A knight approaches the group. Bowing to Kane and Naofumi. "Spear Hero, Shield Hero." He stands up straight-up. "Please follow me to my commanding officer."

Naofumi's eyes narrow, her paranoia pulsing upon the knight knowing she's the Shield Hero. "What of our party?"

The knight calmly responds. "They will have to wait here."

Naofumi is about to voice her disagreements before Kane speaks to her. "Let 'em stay. Not like anyone here can harm them."

Naofumi stares at Kane before huffing, turning to the knight. "Let's get this over with then."

The two Heroes walk side by side as they follow the knight to the biggest tent in the entire camp. A few tense knights watch the two as they walk by them, disappearing in the field of tents. One knight looks familiar to Naofumi but she couldn't quite remember where she saw him. They eventually reach the tent, the knight lifting the folds and beckoning the two Heroes inside. Kane takes the first step in, Naofumi following behind.

A single long table sits in the middle of the tent, a map rolled out across the table. A group of knights stands by it, looking up at the entrance of the two Heroes. Although the one in the middle is instantly recognized by Naofumi and Kane who's willingness instantly dies, replaced with burning rage as his lips turn into a cruel sneer. "If it isn't Sergeant Scarface."

Scarface grimaces, taking a deep breath. "It's captain now... sir, I was promoted after the Wave."

Kane's lips twist into a toxic smirk. "Oh yeah? Guess burning that village was good for your career huh Sergeant Scarface." He closes his eyes with a mocking chuckle. "Sorry Captain Scarface. That doesn't sound that good anymore, Captain Cuntface is more appropriate."

Scarface's fist clenches, Kane's taunting getting on his nerves. "Kane, knock it off with the macho bullshit." Naofumi interrupts.

Kane shakes his head, turning to Naofumi. "We should just get the fuck out of here, let them deal with this."

One of the knights calls out surprised at the pettiness of Kane. "You would abandon hostages in their time of need?"

Kane snorts. "They're already dead with this asshole here." motioning to the captain of the group. "He's most likely going to burn them and I don't want my party at risk of that."

With anger, the scarred Captain speaks. "I didn't give the order at the village. The one who did was the man you threatened to burn alive and break his legs."

Kane points at the captain. "Bullshit, I saw the way those knights followed orders."

"I was still a sergeant back then, I was second in command, I couldn't deny his orders."

"That doesn't excuse jacksh-"

"Enough!" A yell echoes throughout the tent. Naofumi rubbing her forehead. "Kane knock it off, you said it yourself we have to do this." Kane opens his mouth before closing it with a growl, crossing his arms. Naofumi turns to the captain, her fists clenched. "We'll help but let's do it quickly."

The captain nods, himself wanting the same thing and moving on. He motions to the map, Naofumi and Kane walk up to it, although Kane does so reluctantly. The captain points at the map, a red circle on a certain spot. "This is the bandit encampment, now if it was just a standard bandit camp we wouldn't need help dealing with it but nothing about this situation is standard."

The man takes a deep sigh. "To begin with, we have confirmed hostages and worst of all some of these hostages are powerful merchants important to trade in the country."

Kane stares at the map, biting back a yawn while Naofumi's eyes narrow, loss of trade could severely affect her as a travelling merchant. "Do we know who's been taken?"

One of the knights at the side pulls out a list, speaking as they open it. "There are 5 merchants that have been captured, along with their employees and any goods they had with them." They read the first name on the list. "The first one to be captured was Hickwaal Reou."

Naofumi's mind goes into overdrive upon hearing Hickwaal's name, pondering if it was bad luck or something else.

"Philto Marip was kidnapped shortly after, then Piscia Saunio, Grania Sustes was next, and finally Euna Cicius."

Naofumi knew at least two of those names, she had worked for them before and made deals with them, making this whole situation feel less like a coincidence and more intentional.

Kane opens his mouth, staring at the person with the list. "Question, you said these merchants were important for trade. How important."

"They all own powerful businesses, they're some of the bigger traders in Melromarc." Naofumi speaks up, crossing her arms. "Without them, trade within the country would go to hell really quick, let alone trade between countries." The captain nods to this, Naofumi already speaking of their importance.

Kane's mouth turns into a sideways frown. "So if they're that important how were they captured, let alone one by one without any action from the guard?"

"That's… a good point." Naofumi stares at the captain, suspicion clear as her face twists, her brow lowering. "Why did Melromarc's knights take so long to do something."

The captain frowns, clearly not pleased about something. "I had this assignment given to me about a week ago, reports indicate that the person before me did nothing but the bare minimum, a single scouting party in the wrong area, no attempts at capturing one of the bandits for interrogation. In all honesty, we would be stumbling in the dark if we didn't get lucky and obtained an informant that was able to tell us their encampment and general numbers."

"This sounds less like incompetence and more wilful ignorance," Naofumi states coldly, staring at the captain.

The man gives a small sigh back in response, his body like a statue, unmoving. "...My thoughts don't matter, only the assignment that was handed to me."

Naofumi's eyes narrow, her lips turning into a scowl. "Seriously? You're just going to let this go?"

The other knights all stare at their leader, wanting to agree with the Heroes but instead, the desire is instantly shut down by the captain's stoic voice. "I don't have the protection of a Hero title unlike you two." He blinks, staring at Kane and Naofumi with his steely grey eyes. "If you suspect something then you call to deal with it yourselves, I'm not risking myself or my men for politics of any sorts." The man spits the word politics with venom, the emotion slipping into his voice.

Kane nods his head, having the same hate for it. Naofumi however shakes her head. "Whatever. We'll deal with it when we get to it. Now, where do you want us?"

Kane and Naofumi enter the back of the carriage, their entire party staring at them. Rifana speaks up first. "So?"

Naofumi shrugs in response, taking a seat. "We're at the front, fighting through the side entrance with the supposed most resistance."

"How many?"

"Around 35, including a few trained monsters."

The entire group hums at this apart from Shen, Sakura, and Filo who are swaying their legs and barely paying attention.

Suddenly the fabric of the carriage is disturbed, being pushed to the side as a knight enters the carriage, kneeling. Kane stares at the person intruding in the carriage. "Think you got the wrong place dude."

The knight stares at Kane. The knight is rather androgynous, unable to tell if the figure is female or male from their facial features. The person pulls an odd item out, placing it on the carriage floor, the item being watched with suspicion from everyone in the carriage. The object extends, making a few of them tense before a lingering aura hangs over them. "This device will make sure nothing can eavesdrop on us. I have information for you two and a request from the Queen."

Naofumi's brow raises. "The Queen?"

Kane leans in, staring at the figure. "Is that you Riley?"

The knight nods, confirming Kane's thoughts. "Correct Spear Hero. As I said I have information and a request from the Queen."

Kane and Naofumi look at each other momentarily before looking back at the disguised Shadow. Naofumi nods at the figure. "Let's hear it."

"The bandit leader himself is classed up and is too much of a threat for any of the knights here to handle."

Erhard's deep voice can be heard. "A bandit getting a class-up?"

Riley nods. "A rare occurrence but even more so when said bandit has no connection to a noble family or any family with money behind them." The suspicious circumstances clear to everyone paying attention, foul play at the front of their minds, the question on their minds is answered by Riley. "Meaning that the bandit has a benefactor, that benefactor being the Church."

"The Church?" Kane tilts his head, his face creasing in confusion. "Why would they do that?"

Riley blinks, his emotionless eyes staring at Kane. "I imagine the idea was to harm the Shield Hero's business by limiting her trade partners."

Naofumi's upper lip flickers for a moment, revealing her canines in a snarl. "Fucking bastards."

Kane rubs his chin, beginning to understand. "So that's why the guy before Scarface was doing nothing, he was told to do nothing but the bare minimum."

"Correct but it seems the Church underestimated the bandits' greed. You see the Church has merchants who give the Church, donations in return for favours; class-upped bodyguards, connections to rich nobles, perhaps even undermining their rivals with Shadows. These merchants are vital to the Church for, without them, they lose a large amount of their funding and this bandit leader knows this, so he's kidnapped them, planning on ransoming them back and the Church can't be idle. They either need to pay the ransom or eliminate the man."

Naofumi wouldn't deny that the Church getting bitten in the ass by their own plan was extremely funny to hear, honestly, she would have busted out laughing if she was alone but she schools it in, giving a smug grin. "Heh, those snakes get what they deserve."

Kane leans in. "So if this guy has the Church by the balls why haven't they assassinated him yet?"

"They've tried, at least twice. The man seems to have an unnatural way of detecting Shadows, in particular Church Shadows, he's already killed three and sent their heads back to the Church." Riley stares at everyone present as if gauging the prowess. "Attempting to kill him through stealth will not work, so instead brute force must be used to deal with him."

Naofumi taps her chin in thought, wanting to weaken the Church but not herself. "Any chance of instead of dealing with these bandits, we just rescue the merchants that aren't involved with the Church? If this guy is screwing over both the Church and me, I rather just pull myself out of the situation and leave the Church."

Raphtalia and Rifana stare at Naofumi in disagreement, the others look nonplussed. Erhard even gives a small snort. "You're a real bleeding heart Shield Lassie."

Naofumi shrugs back in response, uncaring of the Church-associated merchants. Riley however speaks up. "No, regardless of what happens the battle is already won, the bandits are outnumbered 2 to 1 and most are likely to be untrained thugs with no knowledge on how to fight. However, this could work to our benefit in weakening the Church by manipulating the merchants associated with the Church into believing that not only were they abandoned by the Church but the Church actually paid bandits to kidnap them. To do this however we need to capture the bandit leader who will inform the merchants of the truth."

"What if the bandit doesn't say what you want him to say?"

Riley gives a chilling stare. "Oh, he will… don't concern yourselves about that part."

Kane blinks and gives an unsure smirk. "...right. So is that it?" Riley nods casually as if they didn't just say they were planning on torturing a man into obedience. "So what's the request from the Queen."

Riley hands Naofumi a crystal ball, causing her to raise a brow in confusion while Kane is handed a rolled-up scroll. Riley turns to Naofumi, speaking to her first. "The Queen will contact the both of you through that ball." They turn to Kane. "This is the signed decree from the Queen as you requested."

Kane stares at the scroll in his hand with a smirk, the scroll disappears, being placed in his inventory. Riley stands up straight, grabbing the magical device and switching it off. The device returns to its original size. They nod before leaving, pushing past the fabric of the carriage, flapping close behind them as they exit.

Keel stares at Kane, her body slouched as her head is in her palm. "What's the scroll for?"

"Use it to force the King to give me knights for the Wave, apparently he's already been ignoring his wife's messages but this time I'll make damn sure he won't even think about it unless he wants to be known for as the man who committed treason AND denied a Hero."

Naofumi stares at Kane with a look mixed with exasperation and disappointment. "You really think you'll be able to force that moron to do anything?"

Kane gives a smirk. "Well, we'll just have to see won't we?"

The two Heroes cautiously move past bushes and trees. Naofumi stops, spotting the encampment. She scowls at it, the encampment is planted in the side of a steep hill, making it near impossible to attack from behind, wooden logs surround the encampment, too high for anyone to reliably climb over without the use of skills or extremely strong legs. The steep hill and bandit encampment are both settled on a grassy plain, with no trees or anything around.

Kane looks at the field before turning back, he looks at his party and the company of knights following them. "Should we wait for night? 'Cause I don't think we'll be able to sneak with his many people in broad daylight."

Naofumi ponders the reasonable question, rubbing her chin. "...Problem is if makes a run for it at night might as well not bother trying to catch them if they make it to the forest."

Kane hums, rubbing his chin in thought before stiffening as if an idea hits him. "How about… instead of everyone going at once, I go."

Naofumi stares at Kane with an incredulous look, something shared by everyone else in the party. "Were you always this confidently stupid or did becoming the Spear Hero do it for you?"

Kane shrugs back nonchalantly. "Bit of both." He raises a finger, attempting to explain his plan. "Listen, I'm faster enough to dodge any arrow and I can probably fuck up the gate and deal with the archers to the point that everyone else can charge in and deal with the bandits."

Rifana shakes her head. "If they coordinate and fire volleys you won't be able to dodge that, at least not unscathed."

"That's if they even coordinate, these guys are bandits. I highly doubt anyone of them."

"And if they do?"

Kane shrugs once again, the action annoying the more responsible members of the party. "I've got a plethora of skills that can help pull my ass out of the fire."

Naofumi however finds herself slowly beginning to agree with Kane, sending the strongest fighter they have first, to catch their foes by foes by surprise. "He's right."

Kane smiles at Naofumi while all the others stare at her in shock, expecting her to be the last one to support Kane's idea.

"Naofumi?"

"Surprised you're agreeing with this Shield Lassie."

Naofumi raises a hand, the voices of the party stopping as they wait to hear her reasoning. "He's right, by doing this we'll catch them by surprise and it'll be one hell of a surprise. A Cardinal Hero charging their base? There's no way they've prepared for that, they'll probably just think he's just some suicidal adventurer, and once they do realise it'll be too late."

Kane's smile gets even wider, his core warming up at Naofumi agreeing with him. "See? Thank you for agreeing with me Iwi."

Naofumi's eyes flicker to Kane, her mouth in a straight line as she speaks. "I wasn't finished. You and me are both going, if there is a volley I'll be able to protect us." Kane raises a finger, his mouth opens, about to voice his disagreement. "No arguments Kane, no point in risking you for no reason when I could just easily keep you safe." Kane gives a deep sigh as his mouth closes shut. His finger closed back into a fist.

Naofumi turns to the others. "We'll need a signal for when Kane and I breach the base."

"No need for that, Riffy will easily be able to tell if we breached it or not, she's like a fucking telescope." Kane points at the Weasel Demi-human with his thumb.

Rifana nods with pride, not knowing what a telescope is but the compliment from Kane was appreciated nonetheless.

Naofumi hums in glad surprise. She stands up, moving past the brush of the forest, and turns around. "Well let's get going then."

Kane quickly moves to Naofumi turning around and speaking to the party as he leaves. "Stay safe."

Kane and Naofumi walk side by side, the two conversing casually. "So how can Rifana see us this far out?"

Kane gives a shrug back. "My best guess? Class-up… Weasel's don't have super eyesight do they?"

Naofumi lips pucker. "I… don't think so? At least not as not so good to the point they can see a person like a thousand metres away."

Kane turns to Naofumi, opening his mouth. His words die in his mouth when Naofumi pushes him back, blocking an arrow that harmlessly dings against her Shield. "We got their attention."

Kane curves around Naofumi starting his sprint to the base while Naofumi struggles to keep up in speed. Kane sidesteps and weaves out of the arrows' trajectory, while Naofumi just keeps her Shield up, the arrows doing absolutely nothing to her Shield, not even feeling the impact of the arrows.

The two Heroes continue charging the base, not a single arrow hitting Kane and not a single point of damage to Naofumi's HP. "Oh shit." Kane mutters out looking out for more arrows.

Naofumi moves her Shield, looking up to find a massive volley of arrows bearing down at the two. Naofumi charges at Kane, a sudden burst of speed. She tackles Kane to the ground, who hits the earth with a grunt. "Airstrike Shield!"

A translucent green shield appears above Kane and Naofumi, the volley of arrows hits the shield. Arrows litter the magical shield, resembling a porcupine. Naofumi moves her hand, the Shield passes to the left before dissipating. The arrows drop and impale the dirt.

Naofumi helps Kane to his feet. "Could of at least warned me, Naofumi."

Naofumi gives an apologetic smirk, staring at Kane's armour covered in dirt. Looking up to stare into Kane's eyes she notices another volley of arrows. "Fuck!" Naofumi tugs Kane behind her, pulling out the Great Shield. The giant slab of metal defending them from another volley. Naofumi stares at the encampment. "How many arrows do they have in there?" Naofumi begins slowly walking forward, tugging Kane behind her, another volley hitting Naofumi's massive Shield.

The two walk at a snail's pace, Naofumi keeping the two safe from the volleys. Kane blinks, frowning. He activates Slippery Agility, before hoisting her up, Naofumi squeaking in surprise. "W-What are you doing!?"

Kane plants Naofumi on his shoulders, holding onto her legs before starting his dash again, despite having Naofumi on his shoulders his speed isn't diminished, the female Hero being extremely light to Kane. "Your way was too slow."

Naofumi does her best to focus on defending the two of them, fighting back a blush and a swarm of arrows. "I can't really see, how close are we to the camp?"

"Like… half a football pitch." Kane states, not even slowing down at all. "Naofumi… You think you can put that bouncy shield ahead of us?"

"I can't see shit Kane and I'm not about to change my Shield with us so close to the bandit camp." Naofumi tightens her grip, placing a hand on Kane's head and attempting to angle herself around her Shield.

"Like 10 metres ahead of us, can you do that?"

Naofumi grimaces, holding out a hand and imagining a Shield ahead of the two of them. She clenches her fist, unsure if she's done it not. Kane pats Naofumi on the leg. "Nice work! Now you might want to hold on tight."

"What?" As soon as Naofumi finishes her single word sentence, Kane hops upwards, landing on the Rebounding Shield. "Wait, Kaneeeeeeeeeeeee!" Naofumi screams Kane's name as the two flies into the sky. Kane holding onto Naofumi's legs with one arm, despite the single arm holding Naofumi she doesn't move at all, Kane's grip like iron. His other hand remains open, waiting for the bracelet to transform into the Spear.

Just like before when he reached the apex of his jump he uses Seismic Leap, the suddenly plummet making Naofumi scream again, while holding Kane's head with both hands as if Kane's head was a lifeline. "Holy Shiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiit!"

Kane slams into the front gate of the camp, Seismic Leap instantly demolishing the structure. A massive dust cloud emerges from the force of Kane's Seismic Leap. Naofumi lets out a deep sigh of relief she didn't know she was holding in. "Oh thank god."

Kane snorts, looking up at Naofumi, her hair dishevelled. "What do you have to worry about? That ass of yours would stop you from taking fall damage."

Kane is instantly bonked on the head by Naofumi, making his muscle spasm for a single second. "Not the time for your horniness!" Naofumi looks ahead, a slight blush. "Let me down."

Kane gets on one knee, letting Naofumi hop off. He walks out of the dust cloud, waving to the forest before turning back around and walking into the camp.

The cloud fades as the wind blows it away, leaving Kane and Naofumi out in the open, surrounded by bandits. A vast majority with bows aimed at them. A few noticeable bandits stand nearby, wearing more armour than the others and actually having decent quality weapons. There's also a distinct lack of trained monsters as they were told.

"Just two… Two fucking adventurers enter the camp, not only do they enter the camp but they break the front door."

Naofumi parts her feet, entering a stance while Kane shrugs. "There was no door knocker."

Kane's little quip doesn't make anyone laugh. "Ha. Ha. You're a real comedian."

Kane transforms his Spear into the Practise Spear. He keeps his eyes ahead. "You deal with the archers on the walkway and I'll deal with the guys in front of us."

Naofumi doesn't answer, instead activating Shield Prison, encasing Kane and herself in a metal cocoon, the sounds of the arrows pelting the Shield Prison can be heard from within. "Get ready Kane."

Kane smirks, getting low. "Yes ma'am."

A few tense seconds pass. The Shield Prison suddenly disappears and the two Heroes strike like a coiled viper.

Naofumi charges the walkways. Activating one of her skills, causing a green slime to pop out of her Shield. She points to the walkways, commanding her slime. "Break it down!" The slime gives an affirmative gurgle, before sliding over to it, with surprising speed for a sentient piece of gelatin. Some of the archers shoot into the slime but only a few of them hit and the slime is surprisingly resistant. The slime attaches itself to an wooden support of the walkway, slowly dissolving it.

Naofumi however focuses on the other walkway, blocking any arrow or using a counter skill when anyone uses a melee weapon against her. One of the bandits strikes at her, she kicks their legs out and stomps their face with her boot. She activates her Chimera Dragon Head counter, the dragon head morphing out of the Shield, Naofumi aims at the walkway, just in time for the dragon to belch a flame that sets the walkway ablaze.

Kane hits a bandit with a flying knee, teeth flying out as they drop. Kane hits the floor before having to slip under the strike of a mace. Smacking the offending person in the back of the head with the opposite end of his Spear, the bandit's eyes roll up into the back of their head as they drop to the ground. He backsteps from a downwards slash from one of the bandits. The bandit with the missed slash they attempt to hit Kane with an upwards slice, Kane blocks it with the Spear. The two stare at each other before Kane slams the top of his head into the bridge of the man's nose. Kane's headbutt instantly breaks the man's nose, knocking out the man.

He looks back up at the others before a slight sting hits him, he looks at it, finding an arrow embedded in his arm. Fortunately, his armour took the most damage but the arrowhead still pierced his skin. He pulls it out, looking for the archer responsible. He spots him notching another arrow about to fire it at Kane. Like lighting, his hand snaps back. Tossing the Spear at the archer and hitting them straight in the chest, knocking them to the ground from the force, he motions for the Spear to go around, smacking people in the heads with the Spear.

Two more bandits charge Kane while his Spear is gone, Kane raises his hands in a stance, opening one palm open for the Spear, the two bandits reach Kane, both attacking in sync. "Airstrike Shield!" A familiar green shield appears blocking the attack of the two. Kane smirks. Lifting his rear leg up and tilting his back, the moment the shield fades he lunges, leaning and kicking his leg out as he punches one of the bandits, making the man swallow some of his own teeth.

Kane and the bandit stare at each other, Kane point to the right, his smirk still present to the bandit. The bandit turns, the Spear slamming into his face and dropping him to the ground. The Spear flies into his hand. The sound of stomping makes Kane turn, finding the others approaching. Kane scratches his chin looking around the camp, knocked out bandits littered everywhere. "...I wasn't expecting it to be this easy."

"Rebounding Shield." Another shield forms behind him, blocking an attack from behind, a second or so passes before the bandit's weapon shoots out of his hand with force as the shield fades. Kane stares at the woman who raises her hand in surrender, Kane bonks her on the head with his Spear, knocking her out. "You really need to pay attention." Naofumi walks up calmly.

"In my defence, I was at first but then-."

"You started to get cocky and stopped paying attention." Naofumi crosses her arms.

Kane shrugs, his carefree smirk clear to Naofumi. "Come on, I'm fine Naofumi."

Naofumi grabs his arm and pulls it, straightening it. She points at blood, her face scowling at Kane. "So what's this then?"

Kane rolls his eyes, the injury completely forgotten by him due to how superficial. "It's a small cut Naofumi, my armour took the worst of it."

Naofumi's frown deepens, to the point she's glaring dagger at Kane. She plants her hand over it. "Idiot. Heal my target; Fast Heal!" A soft green glow emits from Naofumi's hand, the cut quickly healing itself before looking as though nothing had happened.

Naofumi lets go of Kane's arm who check his cut, blinking at it. "You're such a worrywart."

Naofumi crosses her arms, her frown still present and still aimed at Kane. "You're such a reckless idiot."

Kane snorts, looking up to find their party and the battalion assigned to them finally entering the camp. "...Thanks for healing me." Naofumi pauses a bit before giving a small smile of her own, giving a nod. "Think we should go and say hello to our party or?"

Naofumi turns around and starts walking towards the entrance, the knights pouring in and proceeding to gather the bandits Keel kicks a rock, her tail, and ears dropping in disappointment. "This is such bullshit, didn't get to be involved in the fight."

Leo pats the back of the sulking wolf girl. "Next time, eh Keel."

The scarred captain shows up, his subordinates behind him. "I was expecting this mission to go well but this… this goes beyond well."

Kane looks around the unconscious bodies of bandits. "I don't think we got the bandit leader yet unless he looks the same as his men."

the scarred captain points to his men. "Spread out, go in groups and look for any stragglers." He returns his gaze back to Kane and Naofumi. "Heroes, check out that building inside the hill."

Kane turns, staring at suppose building, finding a double door built inside the hill, the wooden doorframe contrasting against the earth. "Huh. I didn't even notice that."

Kane walks towards it, the party behind him. He tries to push the door open, when that fails he pulls to no effect. "You need some help there?" Keel teasingly asks, Kane in response raises his leg and busts open the door, breaking it off its hinges.

Kane takes a step back, moving his hand to welcome in the group. "Ladies first." Keel smirks in response, Naofumi however is the first to enter, her Shield raised in case of an ambush, followed by Raphtalia and Leo, the others enter, Kane and Erhard having to lean down to enter the hall, the others already walking ahead.

Kane and Erhard almost reach the others, spotting their backs. Naofumi is at the front staring at someone before speaking. "You might as well surrender, there's no way out." Finally catching up to the others, the two men notice the bandit leader. Clearly a cut above the other bandits, his arms toned and wiry, a leather gambeson covering his chest. A simple longsword in one hand and a dagger in the other, despite its simplicity the weapons still look lethal, behind the man is the merchants all tied up and gagged. Covered in bruises and dirt.

The man clenches his fists, the handles of the weapons slightly squeaking in response to the pressure. "...If I'm going down, I'm taking you with me!" The man charges at Naofumi, a thrust aimed for her throat. Instead of blocking the attack as she would normally do she instead sidesteps the thurst.

Naofumi raises her left fist and performs a single hook, the bandit attempting to backstep out of range but Naofumi hits the right side of the man's chest, hitting his floating ribs with full force. "Ora!" His backstep turns into a tumble as the pain from the blow makes his body seize up before his eyes roll up into the back of his head. The man lies flat on the ground. Naofumi stares at him with her fists raised, confused at how easily she dealt with him. "...That was easy." The entire party stares at Naofumi in shock, including the merchants in the background.

Kane however winces, phantom pain coursing through his body. He watches the man on the floor with a bit of pity.

Naofumi plants her hands on her hips, huffing. "Guess that's done then."

"What's the point of us even being here if you two just handle everything?" Keel shouts out, annoyed at not getting to fight twice in a row.

"Just wait for the Wave, that's probably going to be the only fight that will give us a challenge." Kane mutters. Staring at the body, he pauses and looks at Naofumi. "Wait. What did you say when you threw that punch?"

The party frees the merchants, Keel grumpily tugging the bandit leader outside while the others leave apart from Naofumi who proceeds to loot the bandit leader's room, taking from the leader's stash of goods.

Keel hands the scarred captain the bandit leader, the man ordering his subordinates to take the leader into custody. The scarred captain nods at the party, a smidgen of gratitude on his face. "Good work Heroes, these bandits are finished and with not a single casualty… well." The captain stares off at some of the captured bandits. A clear distinction between the two sides of the bandits. The ones knocked out or dealt with by Naofumi all unharmed, not a single injury seen on them. While those Kane or Gungnir dealt with have cracked skulls, broken bones, and missing teeth. "...They might need some medical aid but other than that, everything has gone extremely well. Now I need to go organise my men in bringing the bandits into custody." He bows before Kane and Naofumi. "Safe travels Heroes." He turns, walking off. Barking out orders as he speaks.

The party looks around, before deciding to leave, wordlessly returning to the camp and taking their carriage. Leaving already, back on the trail.

The group sets up camp for the night, the others all absent while Kane is at a pot making a meal as Naofumi was the previous one to do it. He stirs the pot, making another soup due to the simplicity and less mess when eating it. "Kane." He turns, finding Naofumi holding the crystal ball, a purple sigil glowing. "The Queen is calling."

Kane looks at the pot and then Naofumi. "I'm making dinner, tell her to call back or something I dunno."

Naofumi rolls her eyes, looking over the crystal ball before tapping it. The ball glows, the Queen appears an image of her above the crystal ball. "Heroes." The mature buxom Queen hides her lower face with a fan, revealing only her purple eyes and hair. "Let me congratulate you on dealing with the bandits the way you did, the knights and the merchants are already talking about it, and before long the public will have a story of both the Spear and Shield dealing with a group of vicious bandits together."

Kane's brow raises, staring at the pot. "Vicious? Honestly, they kinda sucked."

The Queen calmly speaks, not showing any emotion. "Maybe to you, but for better or worse it will be another story the public will spread, increasing the fame of both Heroes.-" An unseen glint of sadistic glee shows up. "And the Church themselves are going to be hurting from this whole bandit situation, we fooled the merchants that worked with the Church into thinking that they were betrayed by the Church, nothing quite angers people like loyalty that's spat on, the actual truth won't even satisfy the merchants with how much we twisted the events."

Naofumi blinks, the cunning Queen slightly intimidating with how she manipulated people. "There's no way they could figure it out?"

"Even if the Church tells them the truth, what would they say? That they only hired the bandit to kidnap certain merchants? No such a thing wouldn't do anything to soothe their anger instead it would be nothing more than an admission of guilt."

The Queen fans her face. Her face was like marble, still not betraying a single emotion. "I wish to strike while the iron is hot as such I have a request for you Shield Hero." Naofumi's brow raises, still unsure if she should trust the Queen or not. "There is a village called Mirso village, there is a plague spreading from the village and if they don't receive any help the village will be wiped out, I want you to deal with the source of the plague and cure the village." Kane stops stirring, turning to the crystal ball and staring at the Queen.

Naofumi remains stoic. "What caused the plague?"

"A dragon corpse has been rotting on the top of a mountain and changing the environment. The Sword Hero is responsible for killing the dragon, however he was told to leave the carcass by the village lord.."

Kane scoffs, shaking his head. "Dumbasses, both of 'em."

Naofumi in her mind nods, agreeing with Kane, at least drag the corpse down the mountain so the mountain winds don't blow the stagnant air into the surrounding area. "We'll get to it then."

The Queen blinks. "No, when I said you Shield Hero I meant you and your party. Not the Spear and his."

Kane and Naofumi both stiffen, confused. "Why?"

"The Spear Hero is the only thing keeping the Church's faith even somewhat alive. Everything he does is placed on a pedestal by the Church, used as propaganda to keep the faith, the other two Heroes are too…"

"Retarded?" Kane and Naofumi speak in sync, fist-bumping each other while staring at the Queen.

The Queen gives the tiniest grimace. "Not what I would say but yes. The actions of the two Heroes is causing trouble for the Church, the Bow Hero causing a country to almost go bankrupt, it's people suffering from a mass famine, thankfully you've already fixed that."

Naofumi blinks, thinking back. "I did?" She suddenly remembers a group of starving people. Honestly, the sight was pretty heart-wrenching, watching children fall to the ground from just how malnourished they were. "Wait… I remember, a group of starved villagers came to me offering trinkets and items for food, they told me that it was a complete shitshow over there."

The Queen nods, "Those villagers came from Staule, with the seed you gave them, they returned. Their village is flourishing because of the seed. Staule is on the path of recovery from its famine due to this, it will take time but it isn't hopeless anyone for the country."

Kane frowns. "How bad did it get?"

Naofumi answers Kane's question, having asked the same question to the refugees back when she fed them. "Very bad, Kawasumi joined in a revolution and won it for them. It didn't end there however, the revolutionists took charge, and taxes were lowered for a bit before it came back even worse than before. The problem with that was people already had blood in their mouths and so the new leaders of the revolution were executed, pretty sure I've heard their hunting for Kawasumi too, a good thing for him they have no idea he was the Bow Hero."

"The situation was extremely messy, the revolution was extremely taxing on a country that was already struggling with famine and Waves. The revolution would of most likely failed if not for the Bow Hero but as I said the situation is slowly fixing itself due to your aid and the country knows that. They've been singing praises of the Shield Hero and her gift from the gods, something the Church is trying to keep hidden but word will eventually spread, we want this and stories of you curing a plague to spread, that would cripple an already struggling Church."

Naofumi rubs her chin, the logic makes sense, make the big bad devil of the Church seem really not bad, and bring doubt into the teachings. "Alright. I'll do it."

The Queen nods, a slight shadow of a smile appears, unseen by Kane or Naofumi due to the fan. "My daughter will also be coming to Melromarc, please, ensure her safety."

"This Melty? The one that I've heard is less of a bitch than her sister?"

The Queen gives a small sigh, the insult against her eldest conflicting with her emotions. "Yes. She has a blue dress, blue eyes, and blue hair styled in pigtails."

"Gesundheit." Naofumi facepalms at Kane's quip.

The Queen stares at Kane for a few more moments before opening her mouth. "I will take my leave now, Shield I trust you will assist Mirso village?" Naofumi gives a nod, not saying a word. "Good. Be careful Heroes." The Queen disappears, the glow from the crystal ball fading.

"...I don't know how I feel about her," Naofumi states, looking over the ball. Kane returns to the forgotten pot, stirring it again.

"She is pretty scary with how she uses people's opinions like weapons." Kane snorts. "She would make a great politician back home."

Naofumi hums in agreement, placing the crystal ball back in her inventory, looking up to the stars unsure if she should trust the Queen or not.

Bonus Scene: America vs Japan.

Kane watches Naofumi stir the pot, pulling out a herb and planting it in the pot. "What is that?"

Naofumi looks up to Kane and then back down at the pot. "It's mint, called something else in this world I think."

Kane cringes, with quick fingers he snaps the mint out of the pot, the scalding water stringing his finger. "That is the worst seasoning, don't ruin the meal with it."

Naofumi snatches it out of his hand, looking at Kane with an offended look. "The worst seasoning? Mint is the best, it's good for everything cooking, chocolate and ice cream."

Every word Naofumi uses to defend mint makes his opinion of Naofumi lower bit by bit. "Er no. Mint is fucking shit, especially mint ice cream or chocolate, they taste like shit."

Naofumi's mouth twists into a smug grin. "Oh? And you would you know what shit tastes like?"

"Yeah the shit was called mint, might as well eat toothpaste if you like mint and you can fucking quote me on that."

Naofumi rolls her eyes. "You just have really bad taste."

Kane snorts, motioning to her with his hand. "Look who's talking, the chick from Japan."

Naofumi's eyes glower at Kane for the offensive comment. "And what is that supposed to exactly mean? Are you saying all Japanese people have bad taste?"

Kane raises two fingers, leaning forward into Naofumi's face. "Two words: Wasabi. KitKat."

Naofumi's eyes widen, staring at Kane, her lips in a straight line. "It's not even that bad." Kane shakes his head, clear disappointment in his eyes. "Wasabi KitKat and mint ice cream are actually really nice together." Kane gags, pretending to hurl, with the exaggerated noises. "It's ni-"

"Bluuurgh!"

Naofumi's eye twitches. "Have you actu-"

"Bluuuuuuurgh!"

Naofumi's eye twitches even more violently. "You'-"

"Bluuuuuuuuuuuuurgh!"

Naofumi fist clenches, subtly pulling a large amount of mint from inventory into her palm. "Yo-"

"Bluu-Hguak!" Kane chokes as Naofumi shoves a bundle of mint into his mouth. He spits out the bundle, coughing.

Naofumi stands over Kane with her arms crossed, a smug grin on her face as she looks down at Kane. "Should keep your mouth closed when you're eating."

Kane heaves, coughing. Naofumi leans down. She pats Kane on the back, still smiling to herself, Kane gives out a weak cough as he speaks. "M-Mint still tastes like shit."

Naofumi rolls her eyes, her smirk widening in amusement.

End of Chapter 15.

Happy holidays to each and every one of you.

Hope you enjoyed, please leave a review and I shall see you all in the next chapter.