Chapter 5: Help Not Wanted

Summary: Feeding is more dangerous for the giving hand than the receiving mouth. Today's friend might end up tomorrow's adversary.

I searched the capital for a bit, and soon enough, I found what I was looking for: a river. Because that's the one thing I remembered about ancient settlements, of course. That they're usually built around sources of fresh water. Nothing else more useful.

'Whatever.'

No one was around on the shores, so I could carry out my plan in peace. I took off my tunic and bandages, then I pushed the weapon core towards my right shoulder slowly. It felt strange, the dislocation of skin and flesh, like a tickling that reached all the way into the marrow of my bones. No pain, but it was weird as all hell. When it reached my shoulder, I moved it down my arm slowly, past the elbow and all the way to the back of my hand.

I half expected it to either inconvenience me or for it to stick all the way through my hand into my palm, but it didn't. Along the way it resized itself, so even though it took up the back of my hand, it was flat enough to barely stick out.

'Perfect.'

I put on the right glove to hide the weapon core, then I took off the rest of my clothes and bandages. The teeth marks the balloons left on me were still present, caked in dried blood and grime, but they weren't as deep anymore. Far from done with healing, but wounds closed much faster in this world than back in my own.

'Either that, or us heroes have faster healing.'

The specifics didn't matter, what did was that wounds wouldn't keep me down for long. These would be gone in a few more days at most, and my health bar would be full. I could take more risks since the repercussions weren't as long term as I first thought.

At any rate, I entered the water and scrubbed myself as best as I could without any soap. I scratched the dried blood and dirt away, and I came out half frozen but feeling much cleaner. Then I washed the improvised bandages as well while I was at it, they got quite dirty in the meantime. Since I couldn't get new ones, I had to reuse these.

I wrung them with enough force to almost dry them out, leaving them only slightly damp. Clean and dressed back up, I headed out of the capital to farm some more monsters.

The four heroes were all out in the fields when I reached them, each one fighting with some distance between themselves. Motoyasu was spearing the balloons, popping them in one hit as he skewered them. Itsuki was taking random pot shots at the tall grass, and once in a while, faint pops echoed through the fields when he hit a balloon. Ren jumped between them, slashing his sword with no rhyme or reason, but even that got the job done.

Then there was Naofumi, covered in the damn things as he struggled to punch them. Myne idled a little distance away from him, simply observing. He was making a fool of himself, and I was about to do the same thing.

I waded through the tall grass, getting more attention than I would've liked, and a balloon soon took notice of me.

"Gah!"

It jumped at me, but with the experience I gained yesterday, I knew how to handle it. I dodged the fangs, grabbed the balloon with both hands, and started squeezing.

"Yeah, Kenji! That's it!" Motoyasu yelled, stopping his own training.

"You can do it!" Itsuki joined him in cheering from the next hill over.

Ren kept quiet, but he stopped to stare as well. Naofumi just smiled at me, until a balloon jumped him and clamped its mouth around his head.

"Man, you guys are just so stubborn," I complained to the now egg-shaped balloon.

I dug my nails into it and squeezed harder, watchings its health slowly draining. It was nice to be able to see it, to be able to judge how much damage I was doing. Although it wasn't a lot, squeezing it drained it at a constant rate that was slowly building up.

Pop.

"Hell yeah!" Motoyasu and Itsuki screamed.

I ignored them, picking up the loot and looking for more balloons. With all of us here, and with the others drawing some of the aggro, I wouldn't be overwhelmed like yesterday. But finding them would take longer.

"What did I miss?!" Naofumi yelled when he got the balloon off of his face.

We all kept it up like that, finding and popping balloons for a while. Though admittedly, Naofumi and I struggled with it, while for the other three it was a cakewalk. Even he had someone to help him, however, as Myne soon stepped in. Since she had a sword, she fought the balloons just as easily as everyone else.

Ren approached me with his team on his heels when he got bored.

"Let's take a break," he told them.

"Yeah, a break sounds good," Motoyasu agreed, coming over as well.

"It does," Itsuki butted in.

"Okay, what's going on? What do you guys want?" I asked them.

"To talk to you," Ren answered.

Motoyasu and Itsuki shook their heads in agreement. Behind them, their party members looked lost and confused.

"You guys go on ahead," Itsuki told them. "We need a bit of privacy, but we'll catch up."

They listened and walked off, leaving the four of us alone. The other three turned to me, watching me expectantly.

"We heard some…rumors," Ren was the first to speak.

"Rumors of a fifth hero," Motoyasu added.

"Rumors of someone with a weapon core in their chest," Itsuki completed.

"And since you're the fifth summon, it can only be you," Ren deduced. "Is it true? Are you a Holy Hero as well, Kenji?"

"Nope, just a commoner summoned by accident," I answered.

And to prove my point, I opened my tunic to reveal my bare chest. Good thing I thought about it and got the gloves to hide the weapon core.

"Yup, I don't see any weapon core," Motoyasu said, shrugging his shoulders.

"Core or no core, you should be careful," Itsuki said. "Rumors like that put you in danger."

"People already have a name for you, they call you the Faux Hero," Ren added.

The Faux Hero, huh? It was an insult, and it stung a bit, but it also sounded kinda' cool to be honest. Plus it wasn't exactly wrong, I wasn't a hero like them. A hero maybe, but definitely a different kind. Better or worse though, that remained to be seen.

"Yeah, well, they're clearly just rumors and lies," I said, bringing attention to my chest once more. "Even if someone suspects me, I can prove them wrong."

"True," Motoyasu admitted.

"And another thing, you really shouldn't be out here fighting," Ren said.

"Yeah, you'll get hurt. You should stay in the capital where it's safe," Itsuki added.

It got on my nerves real quick. They thought I was useless, a defenseless peasant in need of protection and saving from the oh so brave and valiant heroes. I was about to blow up on them, but Motoyasu spoke first.

"You ruined your chances with the King, but I can help you if you want," he offered. "By the looks of it I'll earn money fast with battle loot, so I can give you a few silver. Not a lot, but enough to survive until you find a safe job so you won't have to risk your life."

"Yeah, me too," Itsuki joined him.

"I can spare a few pieces of silver as well," Ren said. "We can pool ten pieces each, it should…"

"Or you could all go fuck yourselves," I lashed out on a harsh tone.

"Hey man, we're just trying to help," Motoyasu defended.

"Yeah, no reason to be rude like that, we only want what's best for you," Itsuki added.

Ren just huffed and walked away. I liked him the most out of the three.

"I didn't want the King's handouts, and I don't want yours either," I answered. "I'm perfectly capable of earning my own money."

"Man you're stubborn," Motoyasu complained, his shoulders deflating. "I just thought we should look out for each other, since we're all strangers in this world."

"Suit yourself," Itsuki said, turning to follow Ren. "We tried, no one can fault us for that and they can't blame us when you'll get killed out here."

Motoyasu waited for another moment, giving me a sad look.

"Are you sure about this?" He asked.

"One hundred percent," I answered.

"Okay," he said. "I don't think it's a good idea, but I understand. You want to be your own man. And if you ever change your mind, don't hesitate to reach out, okay? Your big bro Motoyasu will help you."

"We're not brothers," I said, wondering where the hell that came from.

"It's just…whatever."

With that, Motoyasu left as well. Rage was building up within me, and I directed it outwards, using it to fuel my crusade against the balloons.

Pop.

'I'm not weak!'

Pop, pop.

'I don't need anyone's pity!'

Pop.

'I don't need their help!'

Pop.

'I can do this, I'll carve my own path!'

I rushed around the fields recklessly, absorbed by my anger, gathering more and more balloons on my heels. They jumped at me from all directions, but I punched them away with enough force to send them flying for tens of meters. I was growing tired, beaten, and bruised, full of gashes and blood from when they managed to sneak up on me and bite down, but I didn't care.

I didn't need anyone's help.

A few hours passed, and the sun was beginning to set. I popped the last few balloons, then I collapsed to my knees. The borders of my vision were turning red, and it creeped further and further, slowly taking up my entire field of view. I finally took a peek at my health bar, finding it nearly drained and ticking down still. An icon was next to it, the balloons inflicted a bleeding effect.

'Fuck.'

"As source of thy power, I order thee! Decipher the laws of nature and heal my target!"

I turned just in time to see a woman pointing her open palms at me. She shined a dim blue-ish green color for a moment, and the red in my vision vanished. I felt my wounds closing up rapidly, and looking at my health bar, I saw it filling up half-way. Even the bleeding effect was dispelled.

"Hey!" I yelled.

"Fast heal!"

Another portion of the health bar filled up, bringing it to about three quarters. She took off without another word, before I had the chance to question or chase her. Motoyasu waited for her in the distance, and he gave me a two finger salute as she passed him. Then he turned and walked off after her. She was one of his party members.

"God! Fucking! Damn it!" I yelled, punching the ground in front of me.

They were right, I was fucking useless. If not for Motoyasu returning to check up on me, if not for him sending his party member to heal me, I'd have bled out like an idiot out here.

'I need to focus. To move faster. To get a damn weapon already so I can use skills and level up.'

But I also needed to be more careful. Useless as Motoyasu's save made me feel, it was a godsend, restoring my health and allowing me to keep fighting for a little while longer today. I just didn't want to feel so humiliated again. It was all in my head, he did it out of kindness, but I felt it and that was enough.

'I won't need saving again.'

I got up, ripped off the bandages, and tied them around my left arm. Then I went around killing more balloons, baiting them out of hiding and taking them on in small groups. The plan worked, they bit into the clump of material but couldn't reach the skin beneath.

The sun set and darkness settled, and I was still going strong. The first stars appeared in the sky, and I was still popping balloons left and right. Since I took it slower, exercising more caution than before, I wasn't getting hurt. But I was also killing them much slower.

Even so, my backpack was bursting at the seams with orange balloon skins after a while. That, and the fact that the rags around my left arm wouldn't hold for much longer, made me stop.

I ran back into the capital as fast as I could, hoping to still find the monster shop open. Just like last time, I caught the owner closing up the shop.

"Oh, it's you again," he let out with a tired sigh. "Will you make this into a habit?"

"I'm so sorry," I excused myself. "I just got carried away, I promise it won't happen again."

The man grumbled, but he waved his hand and invited me closer. I swung the backpack off my shoulders and revealed my haul.

"Orange balloon skins again? Really?"

"Until I'll get a weapon so I can farm stronger monsters, I'm stuck fighting these," I answered.

He raised an eyebrow.

"You're fighting them empty handed?"

"Yup."

"You're crazy, kid. They'll eat you up alive if you trip up."

I brought up my arms to reveal the many shallow teeth marks that peppered my skin.

"I know, I found that out the hard way," I said with an awkward laugh.

He counted up the skins, which took a few minutes this time since I had so many. I kept an eye on him, silently counting along, to make sure he wasn't cheating me.

"One silver and forty six bronze," he said when he was done.

Which was correct, since I counted 292 skins.

'Damn, I killed a lot of them.'

"Sounds good," I said.

He took the skins inside and returned with my money, but I gave him six bronze back to show him my gratitude once again. It's not a fortune, but hey, he seemed pleased and I wanted to remain on his good side. It would get me better service in the future.

With my money secured, I headed for the tavern. Unlike the previous night, I found an unoccupied table so I sat down. Cloris came to serve me, I ordered another cheap meal plus water cause I still wasn't feeling like drinking wine, and I waited.

'I could rent a room, but that would cost extra. At thirty bronze a night, each three days spent here would mean an extra day of farming balloons to recuperate the cost. Decisions, decisions…'

"Hey, Kenji!" Naofumi called out.

He slapped a hand on my shoulder before I got to turn around, cutting my line of thought short.

"Hey, what's up?"

"Mind if we sit down at your table? There aren't any others left."

"What, you're not staying at the castle?" I asked. "And sure, go ahead."

Naofumi sat to my right, and Myne to my left, which surprised me. I expected her to sit next to him and constantly reach for his arm, to lean on him, like she'd been doing all day long. But maybe she'd just grown bored and tired of that.

"We're not, we've got to find our own accommodations from now on," Naofumi answered my question. "The King's paying us a monthly salary to cover for food and shelter, but we'll mostly need to farm for better equipment."

"So he's a cheapskate," I deduced.

"Watch your tongue, he's not!" Myne burst out.

"Is too," I pressed, feeling like a preschooler again for the first time in many years. "He ruined their lives and tasked them with saving the world, the least he could do as the damn King is to pay for everything they need. He could back them up with armies, give them the best equipment money could buy, not leave them to fend for themselves."

Not like I'm going at it. But I made my own bed, no one forced me into it.

"It's…not like that. They're the heroes. They need to explore, to get to know the world and its people, to be out there and inspire the masses."

"Whatever."

I didn't feel like arguing with her anymore, especially over something so stupid that wouldn't change a damn thing. If anything, that's an argument I should be having with the King, since he was in charge. But they had mouths, they could speak for themselves, so I wasn't about to do it for them. If they accepted those terms then tough luck, they'd have to deal with it.

Naofumi and Myne ordered as well, and then they talked between themselves. They pulled out a map of the area and discussed where to go next, which finally made me notice that Myne had some new equipment. Expensive looking, too, Naofumi was spoiling her.

'Maybe Erhard was right and he is a pervert, trying to buy his way between her legs.'

But then again, maybe not. He did need someone strong to fight for him since he was a tanker.

"The meadow we fought in was over here, right?" He asked, poking a spot on the map with his finger.

I leaned closer as well, to take a better look. It showed the capital, the surrounding area, and even some nearby forests and mountains. The map was dense with information, but at a glance I couldn't understand or much less memorize the bulk of it. I'd need my own map.

'That can wait until I can afford a weapon though, I won't be going far from the capital until then anyway.'

"Yes," Myne answered. "Tomorrow we'll be heading to Lafan Village, it lies just beyond this map." She got up and reached over the table, pointing to one of the map's edges. "There's a dungeon for rookie adventurers just beyond it."

"A dungeon?" Naofumi asked.

I was intrigued by the prospect as well. Dungeons meant higher monster densities, likely of higher levels as well, but also better loot and more experience.

"We won't make much money there, but it's the perfect spot for you to level up," Myne explained.

"Oh, I see," Naofumi answered.

"At this rate, you guys will leave me in the dust," I cracked a joke.

Naofumi gave an awkward laugh.

"You'll catch up in no time," he said. "I watched you fighting those balloons for a while today, once you'll have a weapon you'll be leveling up without a problem."

"Hopefully."

"Ahem," Myne cleared her throat, clearly annoyed by my interjection. She was trying to show off her knowledge to sir Hero and I got in the way. "Now that I have new equipment, it should be a walk in the park with you defending me."

"Thanks, that's very informative," Naofumi said, refocusing his attention on her.

"No problem," she assured him with a sweet smile.

Our food arrived soon after, so the conversation died down as we all stuffed our faces. Naofumi seemed particularly pleased by it, proclaiming how tasty the otherworld cuisine is and whatnot. And it wasn't bad by any means, but to be honest, I'd had better back home.

We launched into a friendly argument over that, with banter and laughter, being loud and obnoxious. The other patrons took notice, but the place wasn't quiet and our droning didn't add much to the background noise so they could bite us.

"Oh, so you were spoiled back home?" Naofumi asked with a chuckle. "A rich boy?"

"Hardly," I answered, laughing as well. "My parents were rich, but they were also lazy so I mostly ate takeaway. But if you know how to pick them, you'll get better food than at some high end restaurants."

Myne gave me a lopsided look, and it took me a moment to realize why. She didn't know I was from another world, she thought I was a peasant from some no name small village.

"Who were your parents?" She asked.

"A bunch of assholes," I answered. "They kicked me out though, so it doesn't matter anyway. If I go up to them they'll pretend they don't even know me, so I'm a commoner now. A peasant."

She didn't seem pleased by that answer, likely wanting more details. But tough luck, I opened the can of worms by accident so I would take any opportunity to close it back shut.

"I'm…sorry to hear that," she said, though she didn't sound particularly genuine. She reached for her glass of wine and took a sip, and as her smile returned the mood lifted back up. "Sir Hero, aren't you going to drink your wine?"

"Nah, I'm not into booze," Naofumi answered.

That only led to more teasing.

"Not into booze? Why not, are you a lightweight?" I jabbed him.

"Oh, you're the one to talk!" Naofumi shot back with a grin. "Where's your wine, mister water jug?" He continued, pointing to the water that Cloris brought me by default at this point.

"I usually drink, but I didn't feel like it today," I answered.

"Not in the mood?" Naofumi asked, leaning on his elbow and getting in my face.

Seeing his goofy grin so up close, I couldn't help but laugh.

"I guess you could say that."

"Also," Naofumi added, "not a lightweight. I once drank an entire party under the table and didn't even get buzzed."

"Oh, we got a badass over here," I exclaimed.

"2011 called, they want their meme back."

We got an arm around each other's shoulders and laughed, to Myne's utter confusion.

"It's…it's a good wine, sir Hero," she insisted, sounding like a lost puppy. "I'd love to share it with you."

She downed the rest of the glass and placed it on the table, pushing it towards Naofumi's. The glasses clinked together, and I felt Naofumi tensing up, his skin turning a degree warmer as his heart rate picked up.

"Sorry, but I really don't like it," he insisted. "I'll just get a bit of water as well."

I reached for the jug and passed it to him, knowing he was about to ask anyway.

"Knock yourself out."

"Is that so? That's too bad," Myne said, sounding thoroughly disappointed. But she followed it up with a chuckle and continued. "That's a hero for you, I suppose."

"What do you mean?"

"This country is a matriarchy," Myne explained. "No man would ever dare turn down a drink offered by a woman."

"Really?" He asked, taken aback. "I'm not very good at picking up on this stuff."

He looked at me for support, and I shrugged my shoulders. As a local I was supposed to know stuff like that, so I couldn't outright say I didn't. Still, it explained some things, like Cloris's insistence I drank, and her own surprise when I turned her down repeatedly.

"Don't worry about it," she assured him.

Naofumi took the jug from me and took a few big gulps. He put it down and got up from the table, stretching his back.

"I'm glad we got to discuss our plans moving forward," he said, clearly in a hurry to leave. "I'd like to turn in early tonight, is that okay?"

"Of course. I'll head up after I drink some more…" Naofumi got on the move, but she continued. "...although I feel so lonely drinking alone."

'Nice, make me feel like a third wheel, why don't you? You guys joined me…'

Naofumi paused by the stairs, turning around to face us.

"Myne, thank you for joining me, a shield hero who can't fight at all," he proclaimed his gratitude. "I turned you down tonight, but I'll make it up to you someday."

"It's totally fine," she assured him with a warm chuckle. "Good night, sir Hero."

"Night," he told her. "And see you around, Kenji."

"Cya."

With that, Naofumi left us, and an awkward silence settled right away. She really didn't want me around, and without him there, she made it obvious. I finished my meal, drank the rest of the water, and got up to leave as well.

"Take care of him, okay?" I told Myne. She jumped slightly in her chair, but she put on a strained smile. "He's a good kid, and he'll make a great hero with your help."

"I will," she assured me.

I went over to the bar, calling for Cloris so I could pay for my meal. After I handed her the five bronze, I headed out of the inn. The other three heroes came towards it from another street, making a ruckus as they laughed and talked with their party members and each other. Keeping my head down so they wouldn't notice me, I bolted down another street. While the prospect of a room and a comfy bed tempted me, saving money for now sounded like the better option.

'That haystack will have to do for tonight as well.'

A/N: This chapter should've been posted yesterday, but I forgot. Also, since FFN doesn't have a reply to reviews function, I'll just do it here. Not sure for how long I'll keep it up, if readers don't like it or I'll get swarmed with reviews for whatever reason (highly unlikely), I'll stop.

To Ford B and Guest, thank you very much! I'm glad you enjoyed the ride so far, and here's hope you'll like what comes next as well.

To LordofPride213, the fic will get updated every Friday. Also, Kenji with a flame alchemy glove like Mustang's would be cool AF, but alas I have other plans for him. One of his abilities will kinda' sort of resemble that, but it's far off. His progression will be slow.