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Guest: Well, Dante has acknowledged before he somewhat sees Eclair as part of his family. Besides, Dante was having that shadow investigate as well to compare gathered information. And, I mean, the alternative to trying to stop him was to let him kill a bunch of people who may have done nothing wrong. Dante's hopped up on anger juice, so it's not like he'd care too much if that was the case.

Marco377: Originally, I was going to go through everything that Dante did as it was happening. Part of it was getting the chapter out on time, part of it was thinking having him tell what he did after he basically blacked out sounded appealing. Looking back, it definitely would have been more impactful had I done it how I originally planned.

Chapter 37 – Introducing…

The healer and priest at the church told Dante about what he expected. The new curse on him wasn't something they could cure. At least, not right away. It emanated from the shield, and using holy spells and water on it did nothing. They hadn't seen something like that before, but they'd look through their archives for anything that matched what Dante described to them. From what he remembered about the source of the waves, he doubted they'd find anything useful. At the very least, it didn't seem like this curse would cause any further festering in him.

As a test of sorts, Dante had the alligator therianthrope alchemist fit him with an arm that he had prepared. While the alchemical reaction was attaching the arm to him, the arm itself began to smoke. Before it would have been fully attached and functional, its appearance was similar to his previous arm. Dante told the alchemist of his condition and had messengers sent to the other two, leaving the arm there to be studied. Perhaps one of them could find a workaround.

They went to Zeltoble soon after. Dante wanted to meet with the sisters again to give Atla her medicine, before they went around the hourglass. With the wave now within 24 hours, any heroes that had registered to it before could now teleport in. He wondered if any other seven star heroes would be there.

Making their way down the streets, they came to their destination. It was a small inn, not too far away from the main road. Dante had set the sisters up here a few days ago, mostly to get them away from the slave market. Atla's condition had continued to improve, and the pair—mostly Fohl—had enough levels to handle most common thugs, so it seemed fine.

When they arrived, Dante and Sadeena went up while everyone else waited in the common area. No need to bring everyone to crowd the hallway. After a single knock on the door from Dante, the door was yanked open. A fist came straight at his face, though his heightened stats were more than up to the task. He grabbed the forearm of the elder tiger girl before she made contact with him.

"Hello?" Dante said, raising an eyebrow.

"Wha—It's just you?" Fohl said, relaxing her stance. She'd been growing these past few days and was a little shorter than Keel.

"Nice greeting." Dante remarked, releasing her.

"Mister Dante?" He heard Atla call out.

"Yeah, it's…me…" Dante peered into the room, thinking he'd spot the younger tiger girl. While he did, he also saw three other people lying on the floor. Through his appraisal, he saw the levels of two of them. "Care to explain, or…"

"What kind of trouble are you in?" Fohl asked first. She stepped back into the room to stand above the bodies. "Why did these guys come after us? And what are you wearing?"

"I think we're skipping a few parts of the conversation here." Dante walked in with Sadeena right behind him.

"Oh my." Sadeena came over to the prone bodies as well, giving one a jab with the butt of her harpoon.

"Is that really you, Mister Dante?" Atla asked from her position on the bed. She'd been growing too, but her older sister had a head start in both years and XP.

"Can't you tell?" Dante returned. She'd been able to sense him before he even came into view—or, rather, before she came into his view.

"I sense a part of you…" Atla trailed off.

Dante had a good idea what she was going to say, but decided to confirm it anyway. "But?"

"But your presence feels twisted somehow." She verified. "I thought you might have been one of these people."

"Well, I've had a bit of a problem recently, but nothing that I can't handle." He said, partly telling the truth. He'd manage the curse somehow, and hopefully figure out what was going on in Siltvelt. "So, about these guys…"

"They just showed up a few minutes ago." Fohl told them. "They barged in and attacked us, but they weren't that strong."

"No kidding." None of them had class ups. Well, the two that were still alive didn't, at any rate.

Now that he thought about it, the innkeeper seemed a bit frazzled when they walked in. Dante didn't pay it much mind, a bit of an oversight on his part. Still, there was a quick way to figure out what all went down. He closed the door and walked over to one of the unconscious attackers. With a chant, Dante cast a base Zweite Healing Warmth on the man.

"What are you doing?!" Fohl dropped down into a combat stance.

"I can't interrogate him if he's napping." Dante said, giving the partially healed bandit a nudge.

With a start, the man pushed back onto his legs and stood. Before he could do much of anything else, he found himself in Dante's grasp. Held by his throat against the room's wall, he tried kicking at Dante to free himself, but to no avail.

"I have some questions for you." Dante told the man.

"Fuck you!" Was his response. He continued to struggle against Dante's grip. At least, until Dante pulled the man forward and slammed him against the wall.

"Let's try that again." Dante said, tightening his grip a little. "Who sent you?"

"I'm not telling—guh!" Part way through his retort, Dante closed off his windpipe.

"Look, I'm in a bad mood today and I have better things to do than talk with some weak idiot who thought he could attack my companions and get away with it." Dante held the man firmly against the wall. "You can either tell me what I want to know, or I'll snap your neck and ask your friend instead."

The man continued to kick out at Dante, more out of panic than any real attack. Dante didn't let up on his throat just yet. He wanted the man to realize exactly what kind of position he was in, being held up by a one-armed man.

"Little Dante, should you be doing this here?" Sadeena asked.

"Huh? Oh! You're right." Dante quickly realized their own predicament. He focused on his shield and changed it over to his Humming Shield. No need to let the whole inn know what was going on here.

"That's not what I meant." Sadeena gestured to the hakuko sisters.

When Dante looked over, he saw Fohl standing closer to Atla. She seemed to be almost covering her younger sister.

"Ah." Dante released the man, letting him fall to the ground. Sadeena pointed her harpoon at the prone man. "You got this?"

"I think I'll be able to convince him~." Sadeena said, circling around the thug.

"Alright. I'll take the kids downstairs." Dante waved over the hakuko sisters. Fohl was hesitant, but she guided Atla out all the same. It wasn't like they'd be able to do anything against Dante anyway. That's what he figured Fohl's reasoning was. She still hadn't exactly warmed up to him.

"Dante." Raphtalia called to him as they descended the stairs. She nodded over to the innkeeper, who had a pair of guards with him now. Dante assumed they were guards, given their demeanor.

The innkeeper pointed to the hakuko sisters when he saw them, prompting the guards to come over. It was interesting, seeing how these two were already class upgraded and their levels were in the 60s. Not the sort of involvement Dante came to expect from town guards.

I suppose a place like Zeltoble is likely to have more higher level people walking around enforcing rules, what with all the mercenaries.

"You two," one of the guards pointed at Fohl and Atla, "we need to speak with you."

"This is about the attack, I take it?" Dante asked.

"And you are?" The second guard asked.

"Their owner." Dante replied.

"Do you have any proof of this?" The first one spoke again.

With a quick perusal of his status, Dante had the slave seal on Fohl glow for a moment. The guard nodded, though he seemed puzzled.

"I was told these two were staying here by themselves." He said. "Is there a reason for this?"

"I couldn't take them with me before, but the situation has changed." Dante answered. "They'll be in my care going forward."

"Be that as it may, we'll still need to question them to figure out what happened." The guard returned his gaze to the sisters.

"That won't be necessary." Dante slid forward, causing the guards to reach for their swords. "My companion is questioning the attackers now. We'll be able to handle things here."

"That is not…" The guard started to object, but a jingle caught his attention. He smirked and moved his hand away from his sword, palming the small pouch Dante had in-between them. "Well, I suppose these two were just defending themselves."

"That they were." Dante returned the man's smile. "I'm sure my companion will leave what's left of the attackers in the rented room. Please, help yourself when she's done."

"We'll do just that." The guard said, nodding to the hakuko sisters before going over to the bar with his partner.

"What just happened?" Fohl asked as Dante led them to the rest of his party.

"I speak this country's language fluently." Dante boasted. Corruption issue aside, it was good to know he could work the guards if necessary. It was easier to remain calm when you knew exactly what you were working with.

Dante introduced the sisters to the party members they hadn't met yet. Specifically, Keel and Rifana. Raphtalia and Eclair had met the pair with Dante on his second visit, and he'd taken Sadeena, Dio, and JoJo when they went out to level multiple times. As an aside, Keel and Rifana hadn't understood Fohl at first, until she repeated what she said. Dante had learned she spoke in Siltvelt's language the other times they met before, but switched over to Melromarc's language when she saw the filolials couldn't understand her.

After a few minutes of chatting, and giving Atla her medicine, Sadeena came down the stairs, prompting everyone to head out towards the hourglass. The thugs that attacked the sisters didn't appear to be affiliated with Siltvelt, Melromarc, or anyone else they knew, according to Sadeena. The one Dante threatened was quick to spill his guts. He and his buddies received a job from someone they never met—and whose face was hidden—to bring back the hakuko sisters to them. Of course, the thugs were only told the two were slaves of the Shield Hero.

All it meant was someone was in for a beating of a lifetime.

Once outside the building that housed the hourglass, Dante looked around for anyone that stood out amongst the crowd. He quickly found someone who did just that. Literally.

They approached a small group of adventurers, all of which were listening to one in particular. She wore relatively light armor, with bracers on her arms and thick metal shoulder guards. Her long, dark hair was barely contained in a single braid behind her head, looking ready to burst loose at a moment's notice. A few lengths of braided hair fell across her face, helping to give off a tribal warrior feel.

"What'dya need, little man?" She gave Dante a grunt, looking down at him. It wasn't that hard, seeing as she stood roughly seven feet tall. The ones around her took notice of Dante and his party.

"I was curious about your weapon." Dante pointed to the hammer that was resting over the woman's shoulder. It had a familiar gem in the center of its head.

"This little thing?" She turned to him, bringing the hammer forward and tapping the head in the palm of her hand a few times. "This here makes me a hero, boy. You here wanting it for yourself?" She gave him a toothy grin, one that seemed to be hoping for a certain response.

"I've already got something like that." Dante raised his shield to her, making sure the gem was front and center.

"Ooh, so you're the Shield Hero, eh?" The woman barked out a laugh. "I was expecting someone of your reputation to be a bit bigger!"

Dante gave her a grin. "If you're who I think you are, then I'd say you meet my expectations."

"Hah!" The woman shouldered her long hammer again. "I think I like you, little man! Name's Khana, the Hammer Hero."

"Dante, the Shield Hero." They introduced their party members to one another. Khana had four people with her, mostly humans, and they seemed to be more on the wild side, with one glaring exception. "I take it you're here to prepare for the wave?"

"You got it." Khana nodded. "Just about to start rounding up volunteers to help out. Got a good idea for payment, too."

"Oh yeah?" Given the nature of Zeltoble, it wasn't hard to imagine that the country wouldn't exactly be forthcoming with providing knights, or their equivalent.

"Our weapons can do something pretty neat with monster corpses." Khana went on, holding out her hammer. "Feed them some bodies and they'll give out items and weapons. Way I figure, if you kill somethin', you give me the corpse and get what my hammer hands out. Sounds like a good reason to kill a bunch of monsters to these folk, yeah?"

"Huh. That's pretty clever." Dante agreed. In fact, it wouldn't cost anything to hire people that way. Hell, she'd still be getting the monster corpses to do whatever she wanted with afterwards. Not to mention, mercenary and adventurer types would be fighting with a hero, getting some XP bonuses with that.

"Brains, brawn, and beauty. I'm the complete package!" Khana boasted. Dante couldn't argue with that either. She had a savage look to her, but it was tempered, in a sense. It was similar to how he would describe Rhubaldt.

"I think I'll get in on your plan here." Dante told her. "Easier to process all the corpses with two heroes instead of one."

Khana began sizing him up. "You sure you're up for that, little man? The Waves can be dangerous if you can't fight back."

"I think I can manage." Dante smirked. That was truer now than before.

"And you're missing an arm." She pointed to the side cloak on his left. She was observant too, it seemed.

"Don't need two arms to hold a shield." Dante said. He looked over at one of her companions and came up with a fun idea. "Not that I need it. I bet I can take a hit from this gentleman here without taking any damage."

Khana looked at the man in question and barked out another loud laugh. The man didn't seem to appreciate either being singled out like that, or his hero's response to it. Dante wasn't sure which was worse.

"Well, Garth? Give the little man what he wants." Khana stepped back, giving the man some room.

"Yeah, fine, whatever." The man, Garth, took a step forward, shifting his weapon in his hands.

Dante nodded at his party and they moved back as well. Sadeena hesitated a moment, though a smile from Dante was enough to convince her to join the others. Garth readied his weapon, the polearm extending a couple feet taller than him. He lifted it above his head and swiftly brought it down. Dante brought up his hand, having already moved his Dark Tyrannosaurus Shield out of the way. When the blade came down, Dante caught it between his index finger and thumb.

"Pretty neat trick, yeah?" Dante asked, keeping the weapon's blade from being pulled back.

"Sure, it's neat," Khana shrugged, "but I thought you'd be taking a hit, not blocking it."

"By all means." Dante released the blade, letting Garth yank it back. With a nod from Dante, Garth brought it down again. This time, it merely clanged against Dante's exposed shoulder, stunning Garth for a moment.

Dante looked down at his shoulder, seeing no damage at all. His status confirmed that. "See?" Dante faced the Hammer Hero's party again. Khana let out another loud laugh.

"Well, a strike from Garth isn't all that!" She bellowed, elbowing the man.

"Shut up, Khana!" Garth yelled indignantly. He walked back over to the rest of her party and seemed to pout.

Dante felt a bit bad for the man, and was a little disappointed. Since coming to this world, he'd seen a variety of weapons being used. Sword, spears, and bows were the most common, but more than a few axes and throwing weapons. Likely, weapon choices were based on the holy and vassal heroes' weapons. One thing Dante noticed, however, was a severe lack in halberds, especially from knights. In fact, he couldn't recall seeing one being used by any knight in Melromarc. Garth was the first person who used one.

Given that this world functioned on levels and had magic, it wasn't totally out there, but it was still odd. The halberd was a pretty big thing in the medieval period. It had a pike to keep knights at bay, a hook to pull them from their saddles, and an axe head to make them regret many of their life decisions. If Dante had to guess, the versatility of the weapon maybe reduced its stats. It sucked, but, in this game-like world, he supposed that would make it more balanced.

"Don't mind him." Khana came forward, lightly turning the hammer on her shoulder. "He's sensitive."

After that short display of strength, the two groups spread out and went around to the adventurers and mercenaries assembled. The offer was the same to everyone: fight in the wave and gain the drops from any monsters they killed. Many of them agreed, seeing either Khana or Dante ejecting an item from their weapons. Once they got through the ones near the hourglass, they decided to check around the Adventurer's Guild and a number of other mercenary hot spots.

Dante, however, broke away from that. Letting his party spread the word, he went around some of the shops he went to before. Specifically, he visited the vendors he sold his battle potions to. They had become something of a hot item since their initial sale, and they fetched a good price too. Dante was able to gather the ingredients easily enough, and it wasn't as if they were used to make any other frequently used potions in the group. By the end of his sales, he had a tidy sum to spend on any equipment they might want. It was good to have discretionary funds, just in case Siltvelt didn't work out. His bartering helped keep his mind off of that thought.

Once they finished spreading the word enough, it was time for one last thing in Zeltoble before they left. The hakuko sisters had gained a good amount of levels, but they were still a bit away from a class up. This was mostly due to Dante lowering their levels before going out, increasing their overall stats. With the bonuses from Dante's shield and their lineage, they had good gains.

Khana and her party tagged along with Dante, wanting to see what the Shield Hero's group was made of. It was a good opportunity to witness how the Hammer Hero fought too. Khana was the front-line fighter of the group, knocking monsters around with her long-hafted hammer. Garth was pretty handy at setting up attacks for the others in the group to capitalize on. Khana also had an archer—some flavor of cat demi-human—a sword and shield user—who was also the only other woman in the group—and a mage with water and healing affinities.

When Dante observed the group to be wild looking, that held true in their fighting a bit. The sword and shield woman seemed more keen on using her shield as a weapon, effectively dual-wielding. It did have a spike in the center, and the edges looked a bit sharp too. The bowman used a shortbow and favored getting close to his targets. He seemed to do more damage the closer he was, so there might have been a technique or bonus from a class up involved. The mage, however, spent most of his time in a support role, though he would send out slashes of water at enemies that grouped up.

"I gotta say, you have some pretty nice skills there." Khana complimented, wiping some monster remains from her hammer. She and the mage were talking with Dante and Sadeena, wrapping up for the day.

"I've picked up a trick or two." Dante had used his Titanic Charge a few times with his Dark Tyrannosaurus Shield, plowing through groups of monsters fairly quickly. Since he had a good attack stat now, he wanted to try it out a bit. "My defense skills are no joke either."

"No kiddin'." When one of their battles with monsters had ended, Khana took a swing at his Air Strike Shield, doing barely any damage to it.

"Well, I suppose that's it for today." Dante said. "I guess we'll be seeing you at the wave."

"Before that," Khana slid closer, leaning down and wrapping her large arm around Dante's shoulder, "I got a question for you."

"What's that?"

Khana nodded over to where the rest of Dante's party was. They were going through the monster remains, breaking them down for Dante to absorb the individual components.

"That raccoon woman is pretty good with her blade." Khana said slyly. Raphtalia's ears twitched at her mentioning.

"Getting better every day." Dante nodded, unsure where she was going with that.

"Is she yours?" Khana asked.

"Technically yes, she's my slave, if that's what you're asking." Dante responded. "The seal is for something else and it doesn't affect her anymore."

"Not that." Khana brought her face closer to his. "I mean, have you taken her to bed?"

That got a larger reaction out of Raphtalia, who stood straight up and looked over at the pair.

"No, I haven't." Dante answered. "I don't believe she's interested." He hadn't noticed any signs that she was, though he might have missed them. Having two of her friends being interested in him was likely a deterrent. Or—possibly, but unlikely—an incentive. Either way, even if she was, Dante wasn't about to act on it for assassin reasons.

Khana grinned at his answer. "Then, you don't mind if I take a swing at her?"

"What?!" Raphtalia shouted, clearly having heard every word Khana said.

"What is it?" Eclair asked at Raphtalia's outburst.

"If she wants to, go for it." Dante shrugged.

It wasn't as if Q'ten Lo would care too much, probably. If being in the Shield Hero's party in the country that worships him wasn't enough to get them moving, he highly doubted sleeping with a vassal weapon hero would. Especially if that pairing had zero chance of resulting in her being pregnant with a hero's child.

"Great!" Khana beamed at him, placing her hammer in its holder on her back. She strode over to therianthrope woman, who was telling Eclair what was happening.

Now there's someone who knows what she wants.

"You're not angry about this?" Sadeena asked, gesturing to the scene that was about to unfold.

"Nah, it's funny." Dante said with a light laugh. "Are you?"

Sadeena smiled and shook her head. "No, but I am a little surprised." she admitted. "I thought you'd be more upset at Khana with how she talks to you."

"Are you kidding? She's great!" Dante laughed again. "Her attitude is exactly what I would expect from someone in Zeltoble. It's a nice change from Siltvelt, where I don't really know who's genuine. Khana seems to say exactly what she means to."

It also didn't hurt that her general demeanor reminded Dante of one of his old associates. Putting aside her somewhat arrogant attitude, Mia was pretty similar to Khana. That was, if Mia was a seven foot tall giantess. She did sleep around a lot, which seemed to be on track with Khana here.

"I take it she's always like this?" Dante asked the mage.

"Y-Yeah…" The mage mumbled out. He was the odd one out in the group. Everyone else was reasonably tall, relative to the people of this world. The mage was on the short side, a little shorter than Fohl was now. He looked to be the same age as Keel was physically. The robes he wore were a lighter shade of blue than Rifana's with a matching wizard or witch hat, though that seemed a size too large for him.

"Excuse me, Raphtalia." Khana began, extending her hand to the larger woman with her palm up. "Would you care to join me for a night of fun and pleasure? I promise you won't regret it."

Wow, what a pitch…

"Is that how you proposition people you've only known for a day?" Eclair shared Dante's sentiments.

"If it works, don't fix it." Khana gave her a wink.

"I don't think Raphtalia would be interested." Eclair told her plainly.

"Is that true, Raphtalia?" Khana asked

"Y-Yes." Raphtalia nodded. "Um, thank you for…I mean, I'm happy you think…uh…"

"Oh god, that gap is too cute!" Khana's response to her stammering was to wrap her arms around the tanuki woman and lift her in the air.

Now that's a phrase I wasn't expecting to hear. She isn't wrong, given how shyly this amazon-looking woman is acting.

"Put her down!" Eclair yelled at the Hammer Hero.

"No need to fret." Khana did as Eclair said—after spinning Raphtalia around once. She held her hand to her chin for a moment, looking between the two as Raphtalia seemed to regain her bearings.

"What?" Eclair looked at Khana indignantly.

"I think I understand the problem." Khana said, stroking her chin. "You're jealous."

"Wha-!" Eclair sputtered.

"I think you want me for yourself." Khana snapped her fingers. "Or, maybe it's the raccoon woman you want. Well, I wouldn't mind being with both of you at once. I think I'd like that a lot."

"I…you…" The noises coming from Eclair were barely words, but Dante was able to hear a few.

"Hey, it'll be fun!" The giantess hero slung an arm around both of them, awkwardly bridging the gap between their heights. "We grab a barrel of ale, have a few drinks, see where the night takes us!"

Dante found this to be the perfect opportunity to add fuel to the fire. "Looks like we'll be dipping into my special brew."

"Dante!"

"Sir MacRory!"

"Oh my~!"

"I knew there was a reason I liked you, little man!"

Everyone had something to say about that. Except the mage, who was nervously pulling his hat over his eyes.

Having had his fun, Dante helped separate Khana from his party members. It was nearly night, and they had a wave to prepare for tomorrow. There wasn't much else to do but rest, and that was the plan for the remainder of the day. Saying their goodbyes, Khana and her party headed back toward Zeltoble.

"Well, it's about time we head back too." Dante said to everyone.

"We'll need to find a different inn." Fohl said. Unlike previous times, Dante didn't lower her or Atla's level before going out. If she wanted to participate in this wave, which she seemed to, then it would be better to let her level up more. It wouldn't hurt her growth any either.

"I'm not taking you to an inn." Dante informed her. "You and your sister are coming to Siltvelt with us."

"Really?" Atla asked excitedly. "Does that mean it's safe now?"

"No." Dante shook his head. "But, I'll be there with you, and you'll be surrounded by powerful people. If anyone wants to do either of you harm, they'll have to get through us first."

Since the three thugs didn't know who hired them—two, really—and they didn't return with their quarry, it was possible another attack would occur. Since one of them died, their employer would have to send stronger mercenaries to do the job. Dante wasn't about to risk that.

Fohl crossed her arms. "You said you'd tell us why it wouldn't be safe for me and Atla when we went. So, what was it?"

She had a good memory, Dante had to admit. Of course, anything concerning Atla was likely burned into her memory.

"Alright. Some of this due to who your family is…"

~The Wrong Hero~

Dante explained what he could to the hakuko sisters as they traveled back to Zeltoble. He wanted to end the renting agreement with the innkeeper properly, less he try to wring more money out of him for keeping the room empty. The main point he told the sisters was that their grandfather was basically the king of Siltvelt before being killed in the war with Melromarc. Additionally, since their mother was human, they would be seen as half-breeds in Siltvelt. Since the hakuko lost a lot of power, they'd likely be looked down on even further. However, as Lord Shield's slaves, that could be reduced a bit.

What Dante didn't tell them was that their uncle was the king of Melromarc. The reason was partly because it wasn't relevant at the moment, and partly because he wasn't quite sure how to tell them. Their uncle hated demi-humans, especially the hakuko, and Dante wasn't about to bring them to meet the man. Sure, in the books, Aultcray didn't have any hostility towards Atla, but he didn't know if he'd react the same way. That was especially true since he was still in a position of power and Atla was Dante's slave. They'd cross that bridge later. Thankfully, only Sadeena knew about their human heritage.

Another thing he left out was Jaralis potentially killing their father. His only real evidence of that was one line out of the light novels that he couldn't even remember that well. Combined with everything else that was different, he'd hold back any information that was gossip at best.

When they teleported back to Siltvelt, Dante was going to inform Werner about the additions. However, once back in his bedroom, Dante had other concerns.

"…The hell, what the hell, what the hell…"

The room was well lit, thanks to the maids that attended to it. Because of that, Dante could see something that was already starting to annoy him. From the door to the bed, there were two lines of women. Three important things stood out about them.

The first was that they were all human. The second was that, while having minor differences between them, they all had tan skin, light colored hair, and large breasts. The third and final thing was that they all wore next to no clothing. They all had on what was basically a torso sized rectangle of fabric on their fronts and backs with a few strings holding the sheets together. Dante could easily see everything looking at them from the side like he was.

"W-What is this?" Fohl stammered, moving in front of Atla. "If this is what you're planning for Atla—"

"Not now, Fohl." Dante uttered, marching towards the women.

"Little Dante, please stay calm." Sadeena followed after him. The others remained where they stood, not understanding the issue. Of course they wouldn't. Only Sadeena really would. Dio and JoJo might, but they didn't make the connection. After all, despite seeing her in the aftermath of Korokan's destruction, Sadeena was the only one who really met Cassia in person.

"I'm beyond remaining calm." Dante continued his march towards the women. The closest ones had a look of surprise on their faces, but that quickly turned to fear. He was about to question the nearest one when he heard a voice outside his room.

"This was a terrible idea!" He recognized the voice of Jaralis.

"But I—"

"No buts!" Jaralis cut off whoever he was speaking with. Dante didn't recognize the second voice. Jaralis sighed before he continued. "Look, I'll take care of this. Just get out of here. Now!"

Dante wasn't about to let whoever that was go so easily. He reached the doors and threw them open. "Jaralis, what the hell is—geh!"

"Ah, you must be Lord Shield, yes sir."

The sight that was before Dante confused and disgusted him. It wasn't exactly because of what he saw, but that he was so unprepared for it. Standing before him was the slave trader. That was, if the slave trader was a demi-human. This man sported the same type of attire as the one Melromarc, but he had a pair of ears sticking out of his head on either side of his top hat.

Oh, god, why is this…what even is he? A weasel? A ferret? No, maybe a mink? Wait!

Thoroughly distracted by the sight, Dante missed whoever Jaralis had been talking to. All he saw was a flash of red hair that quickly disappeared around the corner.

With a groan, Dante pinched the bridge of his nose. "God, I don't need any more crap today." He had actually arrived in a good mood that was quickly souring. Looking back up, he found Beloukas's clone still standing there, with Jaralis right behind him. "You better have a good explanation for this."

"Ah, Lord Shield…" Jaralis moved his mouth, seemingly trying to coax the words out of himself. With a quick breath, he began again. "Let me begin by apologizing for the state of your room."

"Skip all that." Dante waved his hand. "Just explain what the hell is going on."

Jaralis swallowed. "A…subordinate of mine was under the impression that you visited Korokan village—" Hearing that name made Dante's eye twitch. "—to have…physical relations with a certain woman there."

"To fuck Cassia, is what you mean!" Dante spat out. A soft hand on his shoulder drew his attention momentarily, causing him to look back. Sadeena had a soft smile on her face. Taking a breath, Dante returned his gaze to Jaralis, prompting him to continue.

"That is what he believed." Jaralis confirmed with a nod. "He thought perhaps you were hiding your true intentions there, for whatever reason. Due to that, he thought to assemble women who fit this Cassia's description."

"Yeah? And why is that?" Dante took a threatening step forward. Beloukas's clone took a step back, while Jaralis held up his hands in a soothing manner.

"It was so you would spend more time here. He believed that, if he could bring women that suited what he thought were your true preferences, you'd be more willing to accept proposals from our tribe. I assure you, he was not trying to show any disrespect to you." Jaralis was really laying it all out.

Dante wanted to lash out then and there, but Sadeena held him close. She snaked her arm around his chest, holding her head against the back of his.

He took a deep breath, trying to calm the bubbling anger inside of him. "Does this subordinate have a name?"

"He does…" Jaralis looked to the side.

"I'd like to have it." Dante said calmly, though forcefully.

The lion therianthrope grimaced. "He's…one of my nephews, Lord Shield."

With clenched teeth, Dante stood there. He couldn't see any deception in Jaralis's eyes, though politicians had a way of hiding that from him. Still, for the sake of Jaralis's supposed family, Dante considered what all actually happened. He arrived to find women who looked like Cassia in his room. Slave women, clearly. None of them had a level above 10, so they were no threat to him. Aside from his idiot nephew's idea, there was no real harm done.

With his hand over Sadeena's, Dante turned to the slave peddler. "When did this all start?"

The slave peddler bowed. "I was contacted a week ago, Lord Shield. The man in question wanted beautiful women with similar appearances to the woman from…that village." He clearly saw how the name agitated Dante. "From there, I contacted a few of my associates and procured as many women as I could. To please Lord Shield, and for the hefty reward offered, I worked to bring these women to you, yes sir."

"I hope you didn't hire any slavers for this." Dante warned.

"Perish the thought!" The slave peddler held a hand to his chest. "My work is all above board."

Dante couldn't tell what would be worse: lying to his face or admitting to it. Either way, if slavers weren't used, it didn't matter. He didn't even know what was legal anyway.

"Look, I'm tired, and I have to fight in a wave tomorrow. Just clear them out." Dante told the pair.

"At once, Lord Shield." The slave peddler gave a snap of his fingers. The women, who had heard the whole exchange, responded to his silent command. One by one, they filed out of the room and passed them.

It's one thing after another. At least I didn't strangle anyone this time, so I guess that's progress. Maybe this is a good way to reign in my anger: find things that piss me off, have Sadeena next to me, then let it pass.

Who am I kidding, that's a terrible idea. I just need to not be cursed anymore. Hopefully those priests can find something to…

"Wait." Dante held out his arm, stopping the woman about to pass him. She froze in place, eyes forward and unblinking, full of fear.

Something about this one seemed off somehow. All the women looked similar, but this one…Dante couldn't put his finger on it. Most of them had white or near-white hair, like Cassia, but this one was more platinum blond. Though her eyes were dilated, he could see the purple coloring in them.

"Do I know you?" Dante asked the woman.

"I've…never met Lord Shield before." The woman responded, looking away from him.

"Hm." Dante moved away from Sadeena to get a better look at the woman. Admittedly, she was really well proportioned. In a way, she reminded Dante of Gloria. "What's your name?" He asked her.

"…Anth…" Her voice was barely above a whisper.

"What was that?" Dante leaned his ear close to her.

In a slightly louder voice, she hesitantly repeated herself. "Ratotille Anthreya."

Dante's eyes widened as he took a step back. "Rato…" He could hardly believe it, but once he heard the name, he could see it. This was her. Rat. The alchemist that made her home in Naofumi's village.

"Jaralis!" Dante turned to the lion therianthrope.

"Y-Yes, Lord Shield?"

He gave Jaralis a toothy grin. "Tell your nephew he's as lucky as he is stupid. Pay this slave peddler whatever your nephew promised him for this one. And send one of your tribe's women to my room tomorrow."

"I…Yes, of course, Lord Shield!" Jaralis responded, crossing an arm over his chest.

The rest of the women were ushered out of the room. With a drop of blood and a repainting, Rat was registered to Dante. He guided her into the room where the rest of his party was, Sadeena closing the doors behind them. Rat stood in the room, arms lowered and hands clasped together. Dante brought her forward, closer to the bed where everyone else had gathered.

"Sir MacRory?" Eclair looked at the new person, waiting for an explanation.

"Everyone, this is Ratotille Anthreya." Dante gestured to the barely clothed woman next to him. "Do you prefer to be called 'Rat'?"

Rat lowered her head. "Whatever Lord Shield wishes to call me."

"I'm asking you." Dante pressed.

"Little Dante." Sadeena interjected, pulling his attention.

"What…oh!" He switched over to his Humming Shield. No need to forget about information leaks at a time like this.

Sadeena sighed as she walked around him. "That's not what I meant, little Dante." She gestured to fabric that barely covered Rat's body.

"Oh, shit, you're right." Dante ran his fingers through his hair. "God, and the way I'm dressed looks like I could strip down at a moment's notice."

He opened up his item drops to see what clothes were available. He paused over what Cassia had on, but quickly shook that thought out and deposited a different set on the ground.

"These are for you." Dante picked up the clothes and handed them to Rat. She looked between them and him a moment. "Keel, JoJo, let's turn around a moment." He walked over to where the boys stood. For his part, Keel had been staring and the barely clothed woman, but a tap from Dante brought the dog boy out of that.

"Who is this person?" Eclair asked again.

"Like I said, this is…was 'Rat' a good name?" He asked, not looking over his shoulder.

"I…yes, Lord Shield." Rat responded.

"'Dante' is fine." He said in turn, though it likely wouldn't matter. Dante remembered how she would always call Naofumi by his title. "Rat here is an alchemist from Faubrey, who I believe specializes in monsters."

"H-How do you know that?" Rat asked.

"Are you finished changing?" Dante called. A few more rustling sounds and he got the affirmative. He turned around to see Rat in the villager clothes, though they were a bit baggy. He just picked one of the men's pants and shirt for her. "To answer your question, I know a number of things about this world, though that information gets less reliable by the day."

Rat nodded at his explanation. Dante gestured to his bed, and she wordlessly took a seat on the edge.

"One of the things I remember is that you are a genius alchemist who was chased out of Faubrey, though something went wrong there." Dante pointed to the discarded sheets Rat previously wore.

She winced at the mentioning of that. "And…this is why you bought me? To be your alchemist?"

"That's the basic reason, yeah." Dante nodded. "Honestly, me knowing your name was reason enough. Most of the people here had that perk."

"I see…" Rat took in the confirmation. "It only seems right that I do whatever I can to repay you, then." She lowered her head. "Whatever that might be."

"You can ignore whatever that slave peddler told you." Dante said, shaking his head. "You skills in alchemy are what I need."

Rat looked back up at him. "Then, what will you have me do first, Lord?"

Dante sighed at the name, but he supposed he would just accept it. He knelt down in front of Rat and pulled the cloak from his body, letting it fall to the ground, showing Rat his deformed shoulder.

"I have a pretty important job for you."

Author's Notes:

I'm starting to think I'll never be able to gauge how many words scenes will take. I mean, I'm sure I will eventually. Do something enough times and you'll figure it out. Whatever. What I have planned for Zeltoble's wave will probably work better in the middle of the chapter instead of the end anyway.

For those who think taking the hakuko sisters to Siltvelt wasn't a good idea, you're right, it wasn't. While Dante's stats have increased, he seems to have lost a few points in "good idea formulation" and "calm analysis". The only other real option would have been taking them to Reiko's cave, and I can't imagine that being much better. Having the sisters hang out with a child who makes monsters out of dead people is...

So, we got Rat now. For those who have read the light/web novel, having Rat appear was likely a forgone conclusion, though probably not in these circumstances.

The Hammer Hero being here wasn't what I originally planned for, but the idea came to me and I'm happy with the result. It was fun making her character. Just got to shift around a few details for later. It also helped me figure out what to do with another character, so it works out well.