Biggest thanks for Ace-Triad for fixing my SPAG problems, and Angel Wraith for beta-reading the chapter.

More author's note at the end for anyone interested to hear me blabber some more.


With a sudden kick of his leg, he wakes up again. It takes him sometime to remember what's going on, the last thing he remembers was… he was in a fight? Yes, they were fighting in the Third Wave. Itsuki wasn't feeling too well from using too many of his weapon arts. And his companion, the green-haired girl had to stop him taking more potion because of an overdose or some other stuff?

And then something happened… and now his body is hurting all over. He tries to pull his twitching right leg up, feels another violent wave of pain shooting up all the way to his bum. It's dark around him, so he closes his eyes again and grunts. "Man, this sucks…"

"Will you shut it, Motoyasu?" He blinks a couple times, as he hears Itsuki's grumble from across the room. "There are more patients around you."

"Itsuki?" He tries to force himself up from the bed. It feels too hard even compared to the bed in his traveling wagon. Although to be fair, it's probably softer than a lot of other beds people have since Iris had it custom made by one of her workshops. "Weren't we fighting against a goddess or something? Did we win?"

"Don't know, I passed out halfway. A bit later than you two." He can hear another grumble near Itsuki. But still can't see any of them on account of him failing to get up from his bed, or whatever he's lying on. "That's Ren by the way. He got hit pretty badly in his face by the fucking goddess. So he's going to be speaking funny for a while."

"Iss uf!" He can barely make out what Ren is talking about. Guess Itsuki wasn't lying, or exaggerating when he said Ren got hit in his face.

Interlude 13: Awakening of the Three Heroes

"Really? You are just going to call her a 'fucking goddess'?" He can't help but snigger at the way Itsuki is calling the goddess. Yep, Itsuki and Ren are both salty about them getting their asses handed to them by the goddess.

"Shut up! You didn't even do anything against her! At least I fired off a weapon art at her before passing out." Itsuki's voice turns into a high-pitched screech. He can almost imagine the young boy shaking his fist at him. "She stole Naofumi's shield, or something. Used his [Air Strike Shield] to block out that long-haired girl, and your birds from her before she took them all down with a shockwave from her hammer."

He has to stop and think over Itsuki's words a little, before realizing the younger boy meant Katarina. He tries to roll his way up, but fails again as he ends up going nowhere on his sheet fast. "Katarina and my angels got hurt?! I have to go see them!"

"You aren't going anywhere in your current condition, Master Motoyasu." He hears the sound of something being pulled aside. Not the creaking noise of a door, some kind of fabric? Maybe a cloth flap? He tries to look to the side with his eyes, and realizes they are under some fabric roof that goes sideways up. A tent? Yes, probably some kind of a tent. The light from outside makes him squint his eyes a little, before he gets used to the light once again and realizes Iris is the one visiting them. "All of you honored heroes need your rest. You are either badly hurt by the goddess, or suffering from severe exhaustion."

"But Katarina and my angel birdies…" He tries to speak up against Iris, but she's not having it this time as she walks over to him and places her hand over his mouth. Not enough to stop him from breathing, but making it clear that she doesn't want him to speak, or fight against her.

"They are fine. They are resting in a separate tent." Seeing that he's no longer fighting against her, Iris pulls her hand away and steps back. "The goddess hurt a lot of people, but none of them died from fighting her. The one who was in most critical condition was His Majesty, and the Pope of the Three Heroes' Church."

"The king got taken out too? DAMN!" Itsuki's voice sounds surprised, and he gradually trails off. "I mean, I saw the Pope get run over by her sword. Hope it's not as serious with the king. Yeah, no offense. But your king doesn't look like he's built sturdy like that Pope guy. I mean, have you guys seen the muscles he got under his robe? That's not someone in their sixties and more…"

The Pope got skewered by the goddess? Damn, and here he thought he got it rough. Still, it feels like he's missing something… and then it occurred to him. He heard both Itsuki going on and on, and Ren making some gurgling sounds. But where is Naofumi? Especially after his shield got stolen. "What about Naofumi, Iris? I saw he got thrown into the mountain by the goddess after she took away his shield. Shouldn't he be with us here?"

Iris actually stays quiet after his question, which is unusual. Since Iris is super smart, and she either has an immediate answer to most of his questions, or would admit she doesn't know something right away. "The Shield Hero has… recovered from his injuries during the fight. He's no longer here anymore. Please, rest for now. Honored heroes. You'll be answered, after you recover your health. You aren't helping anyone in your current condition, honored heroes…"

With that, she quickly turns around and leaves their tent. Leaving all three of them in the dark once again. "Okay… I don't know your companion best, Motoyasu. But isn't Iris acting a bit strange here? That sounds really cryptic."

"Yeah, Iris is acting weird. That's what you mean by 'cryptic', right? But anyways, it's not like we can do much about it. Unless you can get off your sheet?" He raises an arm up, halfway touching the fabric cover before dropping back down again. "That's the best way I can move my body now, by the way."

"I guess I could, if I really push myself. But I'm having the mother of all headaches here… I don't think I'll be able to make it far out of this tent, and I'm screwed if I have to fight anyone." Itsuki sounds like he's snorting, while Ren makes some other gurgling sound. "I don't think it's a concussion, since I didn't get hit on my head like you two. Probably more of that over exhaustion Rishia was talking about… Yeah, I'll listen to your sweetheart and rest now. Hope that [Well Rest] can cure whatever this is. Go to sleep yourself."

He opens his mouth, trying to say something. To object? But he can't think of a good reason. He was never good at thinking over things. And it's not like he can even move his body much. With nothing to do, he slowly drifts off back to sleep on his very uncomfortable bed.


"Motoyasu likes me better! We grew up together!" "No! He likes me better because I understand Motoyasu-Dono. You are just his annoying little sister!" Ikuyo and Momiji are fighting with each other again. He wants to say something to stop them, because good friends shouldn't fight each other. Especially over something so trivial, like himself. He's really not worthy of their affection yet, because he hasn't done anything remarkable in his life.

In a way, both Ikuyo and Momiji are right. Out of all the people that made his life better and he was grateful for, he felt the strongest connection for the two of them. Ikuyo was his childhood friend, who had always been there for him just like auntie Haruka. More family to him than his parents. A little sister, like Momiji said, but not an annoying one. Momiji on the other hand… he has a more personal connection with. Like himself, she also rarely sees her parents despite having other people in their lives, so they understand each other's loneliness.

That's why more than anyone else, he wished the two of them would have gotten along, just like… wait, who was he thinking about again? It felt so close, he could almost touch the people he was thinking about with his hands. Yet, he can't recall their faces. That's the same sense of wrong with how his fingers constantly curl around his palm. Not tightened into a full fist, but like he's holding something he can't see and feel.

"Well, tell her! Motoyasu/Motoyasu-Dono!" He's spun on his heel by his two closest friends, each pulling one of his arms the opposite way as if they want to split him up. The way they are speaking in perfect unison is almost making him chuckle, if their faces don't make him feel like sweating first. "Tell her that she's just an annoying little sister/spoiled rich girl! You like me better!"

"I think both of you-" He begins to speak what's on his mind, trying to find a way to keep them both happy. Until a sudden sense of wrong hits him in the head, like he had the same conversation from before. And… didn't he get stabbed for his answer? Wait, what's missing from him was-

He feels the sensation in his hand, and turns his eyes to see the legendary spear in his right hand. The same simple way it had first been when he was first summoned. And the girls who he was thinking about. Iris, who gives him directions. Katarina, who always works alongside him. And Bertia, who is there to encourage him when he falls. He can't get stuck in the past like this, they still need him! Especially Katarina, she also got hurt by the goddess!

"I'm sorry, Ikuyo, Momiji. I… I didn't know what to say to you back then." He kneels down in front of his two oldest friends who he failed more than anyone back home. They both take a step back together, looking surprised by his gesture. "I took you two, and everyone else for granted. Because my family was never around. I- I never told you two I didn't like you the way you wanted to. Maybe because I didn't understand it. Or maybe because I was afraid to push you away. I thought I'd have a family, if I kept everyone else around me everyday. But I have to go now, because there are other people who need me."

"So, this is how it's going to be?!" "After everything we have done for you. You'll kick us away for something new. Those wannabe aristocrat bimbos?!" He looks up from his kneeling position, and sees both of his two old friends holding a knife in their hands. Blood seeping out of their tattered and ripped clothes. "Why didn't you save us?"

He can't even make a sound, as knives once again tear into his body.


"GAH!" The Spear Hero jumps up from his bed with a startle. He feels the pain of his own head hitting something, before he heard the yelp and hissing. Those voices… Bertia, and Kuro? "Sorry! Sorry, Tia. I didn't mean to hurt you."

"No, it's okay. Master Motoyasu. I saw you thrashing around, and I was trying to wake you up. Did you have a nightmare?" Bertia leans closer to him again, while still rubbing a hand over her red and slightly swollen forehead. Seeing the wound he caused with his own head, he quickly throws a minor healing spell over to his companion. "OH! Thank you, Master Motoyasu. As I was saying, I was trying to wake you up because… well. I could help you with your nightmare if I was a light mage. But dark affinity is… Well, not nice. [Dream Eater] would have pulled you out of your nightmare, but it'll cause you even more pain because it's dark magic."

"It's okay, Bertia. I'm awake now." He rests his hand on Bertia's shoulder and gives her a few light pats for comfort. The Spear Hero looks across from the… Well, he's definitely inside a tent. Anyways, he looks across the tent from where Itsuki and Ren were resting before he drifted to sleep again. He didn't see anyone across from him, only two cloth sheets spread on the ground without any more padding or covering. Well, now he knows why his 'bed' was so uncomfortable. He's literally lying on the ground with only a thin sheet of cloth. "Ah! Shit! Katarina and my children!"

He ignores what Bertia is trying to say, and rushes out of the tent. In his haste, the Spear Hero nearly tore the tent right off where it stands as he charged out like a bull. He runs head first into Katarina this time, as they both end up falling on their butt on the ground. Katarina manages to smile at him, even as she's rubbing her bum. "Ouchie… You look well, Master Motoyasu!"

"Katarina!" He immediately jumps to his feet again and scoots over to Katarina to help her up. He wraps his hands around Katarina's face, moving through her skin to get a better look of her. She giggles at the attention she got. "I, I thought you got hurt fighting the goddess."

"Yeah… I got really angry when I saw you went down, and tried to hit the goddess back. But she used Shield Hero's ability to block us out. I think she stole his shield somehow." Katarina's smile slowly vanishes as she remembers back what happened in the battle. "But I'm okay! Our birdie children are okay too! We are built sturdier than the muffalos, see?"

He follows his eyes over where Katarina pointed towards, and sees his angelic children lined up beside their tent. Miya, the big sister of the second group he raised for Melty kneels down. "It's good to see you are well, Master Motoyasu. Although… I'm ashamed to admit that our attempt to avenge you was unsuccessful."

"Hey, it's alright. You are fine, that's the important thing. All of you…" His own voice becomes lower when he realizes someone is missing from Miya's group. "Miya. Where is your brother Mutsu? Is he still hurt?"

He notices how his angelic childrens all go quiet at the mention, their faces seem to drop at the mention of their youngest brother. In the end, it's actually Matsu who walked out and answered his question. "Little Brother stayed with Melty. The Three Heroes' Church took the little princess while you were unconscious. 'For her own protection' they claimed. Melty's knight, and Little Brother went with her."

He has to blink a couple of times after hearing what Mutsu said. He never was quick with this brain thingy. "Okay… I suppose that makes sense. Can you contact Mutsu now? With your tele, err… your distant thinking thing. We should tell the church to give Melty back, now we are fine."

His angelic children, especially the ones who he raised for Melty's protection look at each other again. Well, not Karasuba. She just stands outside the group with her arms crossed in her chest while holding onto the katana she got from that Zellus guy. Is she pouting?

"I can't contact Mutsu now, Father." He turns to Matsu again, noticing Miya pushing her little sister forward. "The Three Heroes' Church put an empowered monster seal over Mutsu. And it interferes with my telepathy."

Once again, he has to blink a couple of times to fully understand what his daughter said. "They did WHAT!? Mutsu was my child, and he's not trying to hurt anyone like those wild monsters! They had no right!"

He's about to run over to the nearest member of the Three Heroes' Church. Hell, he's seeing enough red in his eyes to go straight to their Pope and give him a piece of his own mind. He feels arms wrapping around him, turns back and sees Miya beside him. "Let go! Miya! They enslaved your little brother! I'm going to get him back!"

"Calm yourself down, Master Motoyasu! You'll do no good in your current state of mind!" Iris walks over from the side. Her voice was higher than usual, sounding more serious as well. "Keeping anyone not human in the church with a seal has been the church's doctrine since the Faith of the Three Heroes' founding. You might be one of the heroes they revere by faith, but you aren't enough to have them change their ways since their formation. You will only sour their opinion on you, and anyone associated with you. That includes Mutsu, who is with them now."

He stops struggling against Miya's grip and feels her arms relax around him. Thinking over what Iris said seems to make sense. If he can't make the church release Mutsu, screaming at them will probably have the church take their anger out on his child.

But then, he noticed something else. Iris said that he can't make the church change their ways by himself. If he gets Ren and Itsuki, maybe even Naofumi… YES! If all the heroes oppose their way, surely it would at least make them release Mutsu from enslavement, if not others. He immediately makes a break away from his companions, ignoring their startled cry behind him as he tries to find his fellow heroes with the goal of saving Mutsu from the church.

He runs through the camp without direction, asking people if they saw his fellow heroes. Surely they can't have gone far from their tent. It might be his imagination, but the few guards he asked don't look too happy when Naofumi is mentioned, so he stopped asking for Naofumi. He'll probably be with Ren and Itsuki when he finds them anyway. In the distance, he spots the green- haired and timid looking girl from Itsuki's party. Wasn't she always fussing over Itsuki?! What was her name again… "Rishia! Have you seen Itsuki?"

"Oh! Master Spear Hero!" She jumps on her feet as she turns around to see him. "Hmm… it's nice to see you are well. Master Itsuki and Master Sword Hero are… taking a walk around the camp. I think they went towards that cliff. Yes, they are, but-"

"Thanks! I need to talk with them, see you later!" He immediately turns around, and runs towards the direction Itsuki's companion was looking. Once again, he hears the girl calling for him, but he didn't pay her any mind just like his own companions. He has to get his fellow heroes, and have the church release Mutsu first.

He runs around the patrolling soldiers, and manages to find both Ren and Itsuki after looking around a few corners. Strangely, Naofumi isn't with them. Now that he thinks about it, didn't Risha say something about Itsuki only talking with the Sword Hero? Yeah, maybe they needed to talk about something, and Naofumi was giving them space. From the distance, he can barely hear Itsuki speaking to Ren with a muffled voice. "...you think she had something to do with it?"

"Ren! Itsuki! I need your help!" He runs towards his two fellow heroes. Ren gives a quick pat on Itsuki's shoulder, getting the other hero's attention as they both turn to look at him. "The church! They took Melty, well… that's not a problem, maybe. But they enslaved Mutsu! One of my angel children! Where's Naofumi? We need to get him and go ask the church for Mutsu back…"

"Asking back your children isn't on top of Naofumi's mind, I'm sure…" Itsuki's voice sounds a bit strange… and insincere. Is he still feeling bad that they lost to that 'goddess'? Ren gives a quick poke to Itsuki's head. "Anyways, Naofumi has taken off. We don't know where he is now."

"What?" He trips over his feet as he falls face first in front of his two fellow heroes. He quickly pushes himself up and stares at his fellow heroes. "What do you mean, Naofumi has taken off? Why is he in such a hurry?"

"Here, it's easier to show you." Ren looks to the side, is he growling? Anyways, the younger hero grabs him by his wrist and pulls him back towards the camp. He looks back, and sees Itsuki following right behind him. His face looks very dark for some reason.

They walk over a big pit the soldiers are digging into the ground. He turns his head and looks down the pit out of curiosity, and immediately ignores his decisions. Bodies, many mangled and broken, probably from those exploding fishes from the beginning of the Wave battle. But then, he noticed a big body full of fur. "Wait, isn't that wolfman in Naofumi's party?! Did the goddess kill him?"

"You'll see for yourself." Ren's words sound… What's the word again? Cryptic, ominous? Maybe both? He clearly knows more and isn't happy about it. Not soon after, they arrive at the camp where the white wearing church people are. And he sees- "Raphtalia? Piggy bir- I mean, Firo?!"

Next to their tents, Firo is lying face down in the dirt while Raphtalia has her hands around Firo's shoulders. Is she trying to pull the Firo up, or holding her down? It's hard to tell, but a group of young looking church people is standing around, looking down at them while making remarks that's not… very nice. One of the females… a nun? Priestess? Anyways, one of the glasses- wearing female turns to look at one of the male knights. "Don't know why you bother with dumb birds, Brother Siegmar. She's clearly beyond training, or beyond saving. You should just have her kill herself."

"Patience, Amelia. She is a monarch filorial. She's worth the effort." The man lowers himself into a squat and smirks at Naofumi's companions. "We can do this all day long, little Firo. You'll just hurt yourself if you keep resisting."

"Firo will never listen to you! You bad church man!" Firo looks up and spits at the squatting man. Her body begins violently twitching and shaking as she falls face first into the dirt once again.

"Please, don't fight it. Firo. You'll kill yourself." Like Firo, Raphtalia also hasn't noticed them approaching yet. He doesn't blame her, considering what's happening. The raccoon girl looks up at the squatting church knight, and looks back down at Firo again. "Listen to… Master Consevatie. The slave seal won't hurt you if you behave yourself."

"Tra- Traitor!" Firo looks up and spits at Raphtalia next, "Firo's master is… Master Naofumi!"

With one violent twitch, Firo's body goes limp on the ground. Is she dead?! The squatting man shrugs his shoulder as he pulls Firo up by her collar, shaking his head. "We'll continue her re-education next time."

"Hey! Unhand Pig- Firo, you asshole!" He pushes his way through the gathered church people, he's about to punch the smug looking knight when Ren pulls at his wrist. He looks back angrily at Ren, and sees the Sword Hero biting on his lips while Itsuki looks like he's about to burst a blood vessel on his head.

"If you hit that idiot, he'll take it on Raphtalia and Firo. And if you kill him… you heard that woman said. They'll probably kill Firo and Raphtalia." He can feel Ren's grip on his arm relax as he stops struggling. Realizing Ren is right, he throws his arm down with a loud growl.

"You had no right doing what you did to Naofumi's companions!" He turns around and points his finger at the nose of the young knight. "You'll be sorry once Naofumi comes back. Heck! I am not letting you do whatever you want with his companions!"

"So, the idiot finally wakes up. I thought you were so pathetic, you died in your sleep after hitting your head." The man looks back as his followers laugh. The man drops Firo back on the ground, turns back to sneers at him again.. "Stop simping after every female, stupid. They aren't companions of the Shield Hero anymore. He ran away with Slut, that means these two are fair game."

"What?! What do you mean Naofumi ran away?" He looks back at Ren and Itsuki, both not looking a bit surprised at the revelation. "Do you already know?"

"You remember there was a lizardman in Naofumi's party around the Second Wave? Yeah, apparently he was that golden knight who released the goddess. And she nearly killed both their Pope and the king, and Naofumi had a hand in this conspiracy, and that's why he ran away after the Wave." Ren's face doesn't look any happier than his own. "That's what they are saying, anyways."

"I saw the goddess trying to kill their Pope. Thrusted her sword right through his body, but he broke her arm afterwards. Not sure what happened about the king and other things, since I'm out by that point." Itsuki narrows his eyes at the church knight, who simply shrugs his shoulders. "And isn't it just so convenient that Naofumi was already gone when we woke up."

"Is that what happened, Raphtalia?" He looks back at the raccoon girl from Naofumi's party. "Tell me what happened. Don't worry, I won't let these bad church people hurt you."

"I, I don't know. But yeah, the goddess hurt their Pope and the king after she knocked you out. And they came after us after a knight smashed her with a hammer." Raphtalia gives a sideway glance over to the church people. Seeing their unfriendly look at her, she quickly looks down at Firo in her arms. "The church people. They came at us after the goddess was gone. Accused Naofumi for conspiring against the crown with Lautrec. Some of them tried to argue on our side, but then Master Consevatie knocked me out. When I woke up, Farkas was dead, and so was Kyubei. Master-, I mean the Shield Hero ran away with Big Sister Mein, leaving Firo and I behind. That's what the Master Consevatie told us. He saved us by keeping us as church servants, or else we'd be killed together with Kyubei and Farkas."

"See, listen to what my babe said. I was saving the two of them from the Shield Hero." He's very tempted to punch Consevatie's smug face and break his nose. But he remembers what Ren said, and focuses on Raphtalia.

"Bullshit! I'm sure that's NOT what happened, and you forced Raphtalia to say this because you enslaved her! Naofumi and Mein really care about you, Raphtalia. They wouldn't leave you behind if they had another choice." He turns around and glares at the church assholes. "I bet they tried to kill Naofumi and Mein like they did to your other companions. And that's why they had to run away."

"I know you are an idiot, but looking at you, man, you are STUPID!" Consevatie puts his hand on his waist and laughs at him. "Still simping after the Slut when she doesn't even support you! Tell me, is your weapon overcompensating something you lack as a man?"

"Why you LITTLE-!" He lunges at Consevatie. He feels Ren, and probably Itsuki both holding onto him from behind. "LET GO! Let me at him! How can you stand this, Itsuki!? I thought you believed in justice!"

"You think I don't want to break the little shit's nose?" As he flails around in Ren and Itsuki's arms, he can hear the much younger hero growling with barely restrained anger. "But think of Raphtalia and Firo. They are enslaved already! They have a magical torture device, and a killswitch on their bodies! If we kill the little shit, they'll die with him!"

"Why don't you just release the idiot, and let him face me." Consevatie shrugs, as his lackeys laugh again. "With how pathetic he is, our fight won't even last a full minute."

"What's going on here!? Why aren't all of you packing up!?" The sound of a much older man came from the side. He looks over, and sees an old, middle-aged blonde man walking over to the gathered people. "Heir Consevatie, stop antagonizing our revered heroes. We must pack up, and immediately return to the cathedral. With the wound suffered by His Eminence and His Majesty, we need to bring them to a better environment for them to heal, and we need to return our crown princess to our bastion of light, in case the worst thing happens."

"Don't know why you are faking reverence to these imbeciles, Cromwell, you old fart." Consevatie's reply makes the older man stammer on his words. He turns on his heel, and walks away with his lackeys behind him. "But sure, I'll do it for little Melty. Come with me, babe. We are going."

"Wait a minute! We aren't done here!" He turns to the older man, hoping he would be a bit more reasonable than the Consevatie fuckboy. "You can't take Mutsu, Raphtalia, and Firo slaves, or hostage! Release them to me, if you don't want to have demi-human with you!"

"Sir Mutsu was quite adamant in following her highness wherever she goes, that's why he willingly accepted the Founder's mark." Cromwell turns to face him. His voice is much more friendly than the Consevatie fuckboy, but he clearly isn't doing what he's told. "As for the little heretics raised by the Shield Demon. Well, I'm afraid you don't know as much about them as our holy order, revered heroes. I wish you a good day."

"Did… did that old man just ignore us?!" He turns to look back at Ren and Itsuki. Both of them look like they swallowed flies. Turning back, he shouts back to Raphtalia's form, who is slowly leaving them to follow the Consevatie fuckboy. "Raphtalia! Take care of yourself! Don't worry, we'll think of something to save you! I'll see you get back to Naofumi and Mein again!"

Raphtalia's body tenses up for a brief moment, before she quickly follows after the church people as they get a bunch of mounts and ride away.

"Well. They may call themselves the Church of Three Heroes, but I'm not supporting them back." Itsuki finally releases him, and the much younger hero stomps a couple of times on the ground, making it crack up. He also pulls at his bowstring without forming any energy arrows. "Just because I'm forced to accept slavery, doesn't mean I condone the practice. And they are now officially on my shit list."

"Yeah! We have to get Raphtalia and Firo back for Naofumi and Mein!" He spins on his heel and screams at his two fellow heroes. "And I'm spanking that Consevatie fuckboy as soon as they are free. Raphtalia, Firo and Mutsu! Don't you guys stop me!"

"We aren't going to stop you. That little shit deserves whatever happens to him." Ren looks at him from the corner of his eyes, he crosses his arms in front of his chest. "That being said… I'm not sure about returning Rapthalia and Firo to 'Mein', or whoever she is. I have a feeling that she's involved with this conspiracy somehow."

"What? What do you mean 'whoever she is'?" He whips his head around and looks at his two fellow heroes. "Are you two hiding something from me!? What gives! I thought we were friends!"

"So, now we tell him?" Itsuki rolls his eyes and throws an annoyed glare at Ren. "After you told me not to tell Motoyasu what's going on."

"Well, things changed. And Naofumi isn't even with us anymore." He's not sure how he feels about the way Ren speaks about Naofumi like he's already dead. The younger hero turns his head to look at him, and slowly walks in front of him. "Okay, don't get freaked out and control yourself. 'Mein' isn't who she says she is. We met the real Myne of Samphor earlier in the capital's adventurers' guild. She's with some other adventurer, not Naofumi. And there's no one else with her name in Samphor. Whoever was with Naofumi was an impostor."

"WHAT?! None of you told me anything?!" He jumps on his feet, nearly falling on his ass as he touches down. "Does Naofumi know about it?!"

"Yes, I met and talked to Naofumi when we were training in Balafon." Ren nods his head, his face split into a tired frown. "He decided to stay with 'Mein', because he doesn't know who is trustworthy, and he was afraid to have tipped off whoever she might have been working with if he either kicked her out of his party, or ran away."

"So I'm the only one you didn't talk about this?!"

"See, this is why we didn't want to tell you anything." Itsuki throws his arms up, and points at him when his arms fall back down. "You have no self-control and would have run and screamed your lungs off whenever you learn something new."

"Yeah, well. Maybe if something made a big deal we wouldn't have gotten to this point! At least we'd all be TOGETHER!" He has to admit Itsuki and Ren have a point. But considering what has happened, he doesn't want to simply accept whatever they told him. "Naofumi ran away and the fake Mein is still with him. Two of his companions died. Raphtalia, Firo, and my boy Mutsu are all enslaved by the church! What are we going to do without them church assholes holding their lives over our heads?!"

Itsuki curses under his breath, Ren furiously scratches his hair while turning around on his feet. It doesn't look like they have any better ideas than he does now. While they were standing around doing nothing, someone ran through the entire camp on top of a filorial. The poor bird looks exhausted, as the rider jumps off its back as it falls on the ground. "Where can I find his Majesty? I bear grave news from the Stolen Land! The campaign the northern lords waged to take back the lost Rabier County has turned dire!"

"His Majesty was gravely wounded in the battle against the Third Wave. I'm currently taking command of what remains of our army." The red haired duke with very strong fire magic, what was his name again, Yelvis? Anyways, the red haired duke with fire magic walks out of the camp. He's followed by his red, and blue-haired sons. "What is the situation? Has Reichnott got defeated by the bandits again even without the Bitch Lord commanding them?"

"My Lord!" The soldier immediately runs over to the red haired duke and kneels down. "The bandits themselves were not the problem. But the northern host encountered a giant zombified ancient thunder lizard the size of a small mountain. They sustained heavy and grave casualties. Lady Julia nearly killed herself to cover the northern host's retreat from the undead thunder lizard, and its undead creatures."

"What! My- my little sister Julia!?" The blue haired young man nearly trips himself, but he's held back by his red-haired brother. He immediately whips around to talk to his father. "Duke Alvis, my Lord Father! We must immediately give aid to our northern lords! [Naga] isn't one of the more self-destructive bloodline weapons. If Julia nearly died, the situation would have truly gone dire! We can't leave Julia to die in the north!"

"I know that, Count Seliph! Control yourself!" The red haired Duke Alvis shouts right back to his son, he doesn't look happy at the news either. "But we are south of the city of Gallia, our force is completely exhausted, and the Three Heroes' Church took a lot of our mounts. Even if we immediately march back north, it'll take us a week to reach Rabier County. It'll be too late to make any difference."

"The best we can do is wait for Midir to wake up." The red haired young lord looks over at the two large dragons, resting and recovering. By now, people are starting to gather around them. The companions of Ren, Itsuki and himself are also here. "He'll be able to fly a small group of us over in half a day. We'll take our best warriors and mages to save our sister."

"What about the heroes?" The blue haired Seliph turns around to look at them with desperate hope in his eyes. "You can port us over in an instance if you have the location saved. Can't you?"

"Look, I'm sorry your sister nearly got killed, and we'd be happy to help you. But now's really not the best time." He's about to agree to the young lord when Ren rejects his request first. "One of the filorials Motoyasu raised since an egg just got enslaved by the church. Two of Naofumi's companions as well. Hell, Naofumi himself got chased away by the Three Heroes' Church when they accused him of conspiring against the king or something. We really aren't in the mind to pick up a side quest right now."

"Oh… I, I understand…" The blue haired young man looks like he got slapped. Or rather he looks like a kicked puppy. He feels sorry for the young man, especially with how his little sister got hurt badly, but Ren was right. They need to think about getting their companions back from the church, and help Naofumi rather than running around doing other things. Good thing Ren is keeping it cool without Naofumi here.

"I don't know what's going on here, honored heroes. But I beg you to reconsider!" The soldier who rode from the north throws himself over to the three of them, making him fidget on his feet. "The giant zombie thunder lizard has the ability to raise dead bodies as undead. And there's plenty of dead bodies in Rabier County from dead monsters, to bandits, and some of our own fallen men! If we leave the situation untended, it'll grow into a full scale undead scourge that's as bad as a Wave!"

Well… crap. That changes things. At least he assumes. He looks over to his fellow heroes. Itsuki's mouth is wide open, and Ren's eyes split wide at the news.

"Wait a minute. Do we even have a location we can port to in the north? I only got Stormwind saved up in my spear, when we visited Iris' younger brother. That's like, half a day's ride to that 'Rabier Country', wasn't it?" He turns over to look at Ren. "You?"

"It's a county, not a country. You idiot." Ren uncrosses his arms and glares back. "I haven't even been to the north yet."

"I have this ruined village called 'Flute' saved up. It should be right beside Rabier County." Itsuki raises his bow over his head.

"That would be perfect, honored heroes!" The rider turns around to face them. "The retreating northern lords were gathering around Flute when I rode south seeking aid! Assuming the situation hasn't deteriorated much more, they should still be around there!"

"Then that's where I'll go!" Seliph turns back to look at his father and brother. "Will you come with me, Lord Arvis, Lord Julius?"

"I will come with you, my brother. Julia is my little sister too." His red haired brother immediately steps forward.

"I need to stay and take command of our troops, Lord Seliph." Duke Arvis looks back down to his son once again. "Be cautious, and don't get yourselves killed, my sons. I'll send Midir and anyone strong enough to aid you once he wakes up."

"That's you two, and three of us. We still have one more candidate to port to over." Itsuki looks over to the gathered people, he seems to be trying to pick out who to take with him. "Well… most of my team have to fight together. Do you have a companion that's strong by himself, Ren?"

"I don't think any of them is strong enough to fight a giant zombie dragon." Ren looks over to his party members too. "Well, Gaelion would be strong enough, even if he's not my team member. But he's still out too. What about you, Motoyasu?"

"Err… I'm not sure about taking them and fighting a zombie dragon. That sounds very dangerous. What do you think, Iris?" He turns over and asks Iris. She's much smarter than he is, she probably knows better.

"You should take Lady Katarina with you, Master Motoyasu." Iris gives Katarina a light push on her shoulder, but Katarina doesn't move her feet. In fact, she has her head dipped down, thinking about something. "Lady Katarina can form [Chain Contract] with you and share her life force with you. She'll be the safest candidate to take against a powerful boss monster."

"No, Iris. I think Master Motoyasu should take Tia with him." Katarina suddenly looks up and rejects Iris' suggestion to him, and clearly to Iris' surprise.

"What? Are you sure about this, Katarina? I mean, I'm not afraid to get hurt, but you are much stronger than me, and you are the only one who can do Lord Itou's technique-'' Katarina holds her hand up and stops Bertia's rambling.

"Master Motoyasu is going to face a giant, undead boss monster. My axe, or my fist won't do much against it. Your dark magic on the other hand, it'll be very helpful." Katarina turns around to face the smallest heiress in his party and grabs Bertia's hands with her own. "You are strong in your own way, Tia. As for the [Chain Contract]. Well, it's a good time to form your own bond with Master Motoyasu. You just have to believe in yourself!"

Bertia stays completely silent and motionless for a few more, and in the end she gives a hesitant nod back. "Ye-yes! My, no. Kuro's dark magic will help Master Motoyasu a lot. I'll do my best!"

"Stay safe and come back to us with Master Motoyasu, Tia." Katarina pulls Bertia into a tight hug for a few seconds before releasing her back. Bertia looks unsure, but she takes a few steps over to join them.

Itsuki is about to activate his teleporting skill before he looks back at Bertia once again. "Wait, don't we technically have seven 'people' now with Bertia's fox pet?"

"Hmmm… I don't think so. It might have something to do with Kuro being a spirit, and Bertia's familiar?" He looks back at Bertia and scratches his head. "I have teleported Bertia with Kuro, when my party is already 'full'. The exact rule for the teleportation skill is a bit wonky."

"I hope you know what you were saying, Motoyasu." Itsuki raises his eyebrow at him. Not looking fully convinced. "Because I don't know what'll happen if we break the teleportation rule. Hell, I don't want to get ported directly into a warzone against undead with missing body parts like what happened in one of the Harry Potter books."

"Time's a wastin, my honored heroes. If you were done talking about a book with the same name of a certain Faubley scion." Julius turns back and drawled with his nose. "I, and especially my brother, would appreciate it if we arrive before our little sister is already dead."

"Okay, okay! I'm going if you are sure. Just so you know, I'm blaming you all if we die from this mess!" Itsuki growls out again as he raises his bow overhead. "[Portal Bow]!"

Their vision is instantly filled with topaz light. And when he opens his eyes again, they are no longer in the camp between the canyon, but the ruin of a small mountain village. He looks around, most definitely not seeing any camp like the one they just left. And then, he hears a rumbling sound from the distance. He turns around his head.

"Holy shit! It's a zombie GODZILLA!"


End Note:

For those who want to see what happens to Naofumi and Malty. Sorry, but there's going to be at least one more Interlude chapter with the three stooges before we fully kick off Act III of Three Heroes Church Saga. And yes, it is fully intentional on my part to have the three weapon wielding heroes fight a giant undead boss monster because Naofumi left behind a leviathan class monster here in my story.

Obviously the reason he left the ancient thunder lizard is different from Ren (as opposed to people telling Ren it's okay to leave the corpse of a giant monster, here it's because they are still in bandit territory and they can't keep them safe while breaking down the corpse), and Naofumi did immediately inform the local authority of the... *cough* enviromental issue. But it still end up becoming a huge problem.

Also, for those who were guessing the fate of Raphtalia and Firo, they are enslaved by the Three Heroes Church. More specifically Consevatie the young. Yeah, they aren't having a good time. And the three stooges (especially Motoyasu) are not happy about this either.

Guest review time.

To Halo:

Sorry about forgetting to reply to you in the last chapter.

Actually (I think I said this before), I mostly based Itsuki's world on the manga series [Ratman] by Sekihiko Inui (since that's the one I actually read). Although since most people think of Japanese super hero, they think MHA, so I used some of their terminology. I do wish Ratman actually focused on the deconstruction of commercialization of heroism at the start of the manga series more than that whole Shining Man DNA conspiracy though. But then again, the author probably wasn't actually interested in social/political commentary/pilosophical debate unlike the author of Mahou Shoujo Pretty Bell.

And yes, it's Goddess Raphtalia. Although as DJman248 said, it's more of a version based on WN Raphtalia than actually being the canon version because I made some changes to the 'original timeline'.

I'm honestly more interested to know if anyone honestly thought 3HC would be be good guys through out my story and they wouldn't backstabbed Naofumi. But yes, they are still the major villain faction for the Three Heroes Church Saga. It's in the name.

XD

I didn't really pace my story in term of an anime. As people have pointed out, this story's pacing is slow even by book (and I mean a real published book, not web novel/fanfiction) standard. So yeah, not sure how many season this would have been if someone did turn into an anime.

:P

To Guest:

I wouldn't say Raphtalia (mortal or goddess) is bad so much as she's callous. While she has been portrayed as kinder than Naofumi, her kindness is strictly limited to what she sees firsthand, and she doesn't consider the consequences of Naofumi and her own action. That's why she goes who psycho bitch on Idol Rabier in one moment, and then turn around shilling for Naofumi perpetuating slavery (guess who this empowers? That's right, more people just like Idol Rabier).

Which is okay, since she is around ten years old, very inexperienced, and she basically got her mind broken due to being a slave. But still she's nowhere near as compassionate as RotSH fandom made her out to be.

Funny enough, she is very similar to Ishtar Friege from Fire Emblem 4 (who makes a guest appearance in my story): Someone who object child sacrifice that happens right in front of her eyes, and then gets immediately distracted and forget about all the atrocities happening around when her boyfriend (the guy who commanded all the child sacrifice) taking her to a beautiful garden. And yes, Ishtar also defends her boyfriend to her death (literally) like Raphtalia.

And YES! Action have consequence is a big point I want to make in my story. I might be overplaying it a bit here, but we get to see how Naofumi's continued neglect of his own (and his companions') safety blow up in pretty much the worst way possible.