Review Responses:

Guest: It could have been a power up method, it could have been specific to that pistol form. Even if it was a power up, they can only be shared between weapons from the same world.

anandanimelife: Yeah, under normal circumstances, Dante wouldn't go for the whole harem thing. Right now, it's basically him trying not to get in hot water with Siltvelt, since he knows trying to avoid any form of harem led to assassination attempts in both the main story and the spinoff. Basically though, it's assumed the family those women come from would care for the child. It's like a prestige/good genes thing. Children with wives would be a different issue, hence his noncommittal attitude to marriage talks.

Chapter 39 – Consequences

"Is this everyone?"

Dante looked around at everyone his party was able to find in Reichnott's lands. There was a scattering of the dead lord's knights and a few dozen citizens. One detail that didn't escape Dante's sight was the races of those who remained. All of the knights were human, as Reichnott never had any demi-human knights. Fiadia was the only warrior under him that was a demi-human. There were other humans that lived on his lands, but they were all dead.

Fiadia had told them what happened before they arrived. Recently, the lords neighboring Reichnott had settled down their disputes over Idol's former lands. That was only because Aultcray had appointed someone there, one of Idol's distant relatives, which also got Idol's former knights to stop their banditry. Involvement from the crown was enough to get everyone to back off. One, it seemed, was dissatisfied to not gain anything.

The knights that attacked were from that lord's—or, rather, baroness's—lands. There were carriages near the edge of the village that were being filled with the demi-humans living here. It didn't look like they were trying to take everyone, though. Anyone who fought back, or were too much of a hassle to capture, were simply killed. The humans were easy enough to be labeled as demi-human sympathizers and executed, it seemed.

Kaethe, Rokkar and his son, Imiya…all dead.

All the people Dante had led here, aside from Tolly, were dead. All the people that were first held in Ronota were now killed because of him. He knew he wasn't directly responsible, but that didn't remove the sting. He did set into motion what led to this. Killing Idol was one of the best things they had done, and it was once again proving to have caused more problems than it solved.

"Alright…Alright. Let's figure out what to do next." Dante needed to keep such thoughts out of his mind. For now, at least. That baroness needed to be dealt with, now.

"We need to get these people somewhere safe." Sadeena swept her arm toward the survivors. "I don't detect any, but more knights might come."

"That'll be difficult." Dante said, remembering the situation. Night had already come. Escorting the entire group somewhere was doable, though it invited trouble. "Actually…"

Dante viewed his portal locations. He had seven saved at the moment, due to him powering up the skill with the Staff and Claw. For most of the people here, only two locations could be called safe: Othil and Siltvelt. Zeltoble was possible, but the current location was where the wave just happened. It was also filled with adventurers who took part in a wave to gain riches. Dante could see more than a few trying to sell these villagers into slavery. Faubrey was also a possibility, since he got the spot from Lloyd.

He explained his idea to the survivors. Dante would be able to send them off while remaining here, letting him repeat the transportation more quickly. The knights were offered this too, since their lord was dead. Most accepted.

"Fiadia?" Dante asked the rabbit woman. She had kept close to Reichnott's body, which Dante had pulled from the manor before it burned down.

"Yes, Sir Shield Hero?" She eventually responded, keeping her eyes on her dead lord.

"A few of the people want to go to Siltvelt. I'd like you to go with them." He would be sending Fohl back with the first group to explain what happened to Eclair. Hopefully, she'd be able to work something out without drawing too much ire from the nobles about what happened. While these lands weren't specifically designated for demi-humans, its destruction wouldn't be taken lightly. Dante could try to smooth things over once he returned.

"…What about the woman responsible for this?" She turned to look at him.

"She won't see the next sunrise." Dante promised her.

No one in his party objected to his desire. While they did fight in the wave, most of them were still in good fighting shape. Dante was the only one tired from it. His HP regeneration was able to fix the majority of the damage, but taking those defense-rating attacks really took it out of him and left him feeling sore. He had some low-tier stamina potions, but they could only do so much.

"Then…I think I will take you up on your offer, Sir Shield Hero." Fiadia said.

"Good." Dante placed his hand on her shoulder. "And, please, stay at the castle. I want to talk with you when this is over."

Fiadia nodded at his words.

"Tolly?" Dante turned to the mole therianthrope. "What about you?

Dante didn't get a response from him. Outside of their initial meeting, he didn't say a word.

"Okay. I'm sending you with the first group. Fohl." He looked over at the tiger girl. "After you and Fiadia finish talking with Eclair, watch over him, okay?"

"I…yeah, okay." For her part, Fohl had handled the situation well. The brutality of knights attacking villagers was different from her battles in the coliseum.

She, Fiadia, and Tolly were in the first group sent off with his skill. Dante adjusted the allocated points to his skills, removing a few from skills he wasn't likely to need. The extra points to his Portal Shield did open up a few extra slots to save locations and slightly decreased the cooldown, but the main reason was to allow more people to be sent with each casting. He'd lower it back down again tomorrow.

Once the people were all sent off, Dante and his party made for the noble's lands. It was him, Sadeena, Raphtalia, Rifana, JoJo, and Dio. While it did take a little time to teleport everyone, they weren't too worried. No one saw anyone fleeing on horseback. If anyone did slip away on foot, the party would be able to reach the baroness's lands before an alarm was raised. Dio and JoJo were much faster than unmounted armored knights.

After an hour and a half of riding, they arrived. The gate to the small town was already closed for the night, but they would be able to jump over it on the filolials. Raphtalia had them concealed with her magic, and the six of them made it into town undetected.

From the looks of things, no one had made it back after the attack. There were patrolling knights on the walls and in the streets, but no more than what Dante had seen in Melromarc's capital. Some knights did look over when they passed nearby, but their invisibility held, leaving the knights to disregard whatever they might have thought they heard.

Once at the keep, they did the same as before, jumping over the outer walls.

"Awooo!" A dog-like creature began to howl at them.

"Who's there?" A pair of guards with it looked over with a lantern. More guards around the keep were starting to take notice.

"I don't see—" The second guard was silenced by Dante, his hand grabbing the guard's throat as he knocked the man to the ground. The invisibility on Dante quickly disappeared.

"Shit! Intruders—" The first guard was quickly run through with Sadeena's harpoon. The dog stopped its howling after being kicked away by JoJo.

"Well, that didn't last long." Dante commented, crushing the guard's throat before standing. Idol had these things at his manor, but Sadeena had gone around and silenced them all while Dante went for the girls. They were just a bit unlucky this time around.

"No choice now. We need to force our way through." Sadeena leveled her harpoon at the approaching guards.

In truth, there was no solid plan for breaking in. They didn't have any information like they did with Idol, but they also had less to worry about. These knights seemed to be around the levels Idol's knights were, maybe a bit stronger. There were also a lot more of them, since there was no distraction to lure them away. Unlike with the attack on Idol's estate, however, Dante's party now had twice as many people in it and they were much stronger. If they could have snuck right into the baroness's bedroom and killed her, that would have been great. Stealth wasn't a priority, though.

"Stay where you are!" One of the knights ordered. There were almost a dozen around them now, with more on the way.

"Zweite Fire Squall!" Rifana's spell rained down on them. Dio dashed in afterward to finish off the burning knights.

"It's the Shield Hero!" Another knight called out from atop the outer walls.

"Zweite Fire Blast V!" Dante's spell exploded between that knight and his partner, knocking both from the wall. One died from the explosion while the second seemed to die on impact with the ground. "No witnesses!"

He wasn't sure if he'd be able to get through this whole mess without word getting out. Running around without a shirt and fully showing off his shield and missing arm would probably be enough, even if he didn't use any skills. He also didn't care that much. Killing the noble in charge was first on the list. Being unidentified came second.

The rest of the knights were easy enough to mop up. Despite their levels, his party and his enhanced Dark Tyrannosaurus Shield did their job. After that, they came to the doors leading to the keep interior.

"Titanic Charge IV!" With his skill, Dante easily broke through the doors. The main hall had knights rushing into it, but it didn't matter. With the difference in levels and power, the battle was short lived.

"We need to find her quickly." Dante told his party. If she was smart, the baroness here would try to escape. Dante hoped she would overestimate her soldiers.

"Should we split up?" Raphtalia asked. Like Rifana, she seemed all too eager to punish the one responsible for the attack.

"Yeah…yeah, I think that should be fine." Dante nodded. "You, Sadeena, and Dio will take that hallway. Rifana, JoJo, and I will take that one." Even if the Q'ten Lo shadows weren't here, Dante was fine letting Sadeena and Raphtalia stay together. Their group would have more heavy hitters, but Dante's defenses helped even out the groups.

After letting Dante apply a casting of Zweite Guard V on everyone, they swiftly split apart and ran down their assigned halls. Knights continued to pour out at them, but one by one they fell. Dante led the charge with JoJo finishing them off, Rifana riding on his back. Just like at Idol's mansion and in Ronota, the XP gains were quite large.

"Ah!" After rounding a corridor, they caught sight of their target. A middle-aged woman with long black hair stood in the hall with a dozen knights around her. A heavy pelt was draped over her nightgown, likely a quick way to cover herself in the ensuing attack. "Protect me!"

"Yes, my lady!" The knights roared.

Two knights quickly rushed their lady down the hall while the rest took up a defensive position. They didn't carry shields, but they were decked out in heavy armor and longswords. A few in the back had their hands extended towards Dante's group.

"Zweite Fire Blast!" The group of knights let out their spells.

"Air Strike Shield VII! Shooting Star Shield VIII!" Dante deployed his skills. His first barrier absorbed the bulk of the damage before shattering, allowing his Shooting Star Shield to survive the rest. His magic resistance might not have risen that much after gaining Wrath, but his defense certainly helped.

"Zweite Fire Blast!"

"Zweite Fire Blast V!"

Rifana and Dante cast the same spell right back at them, dealing out considerable damage. These knights seemed to have better quality armor on. Combined with their levels being in the 50s—and surviving the barrage of spells—led Dante to believe they were the baroness's elite guard.

"Titanic Charge IV!" Dismissing his barrier, Dante charged right into the group of knights. Two were killed in the charge, with a third falling swiftly from a strike with his shield. While their spells were dangerous and likely to harm him, their swords were far less so. His high defense combined with his spell practically negated the damage they dealt to him, even attacks against his bare chest.

With JoJo joining the melee, it took less than a minute to finish off the guards. Small, disorganized groups of knights were nothing to Dante's party. If they managed to form together properly, like these knights, they at least stood a chance. It was small, but it wasn't nothing.

They continued after the fleeing baroness, who had already disappeared down the hall. Dante slammed into every closed door they came across, quickly surveying the room before moving on. Then, with only three doors left, they found her.

The room she and her guards were in looked to be an audience room of some sort. The baroness stood on a slightly raised section, flanked on either side by a knight. Seeing no other exits in the room, Dante slowly walked forward with JoJo and Rifana behind him.

"Nowhere left to run." Dante said coldly as he stared down the lady.

"What do you want from me?!" She cried out. "What did I do to you?!"

"You attacked Reichnott." Dante looked between the knights, both ready to defend their lady should Dante attack. Both of their levels were in the low 60s.

"I would never!" She retorted.

Dante tilted his shield to the side, letting a body fall from it. "You still want to say that? These knights have your sigil on them."

The baroness looked at the corpse of one of her knights. Quickly shaking her head, she yelled. "They must have gone on their own!"

"I don't believe you." Perhaps if Dante knew nothing about her, he might have thought these knights could have acted on their own. However, Fiadia said otherwise. She knew far more about the local lords than he did.

"I-I can pay you!" When denial failed, she immediately turned to bargaining. "Let me go and I'll make you the richest hero in Melromarc."

"I can take your gold after you're dead." Dante took a step forward. "Make peace with your god."

In an instant, the baroness's face turned from fear to hot anger. She extended her hand, a ring shining on her finger, and pointed it at Dante. "Drifa Fire Blast!"

No incantation!?

The spell launched from the baroness's hand and barreled toward him. Before it could make contact with him, it exploded. It happened so fast, Dante could barely believe it. A small mass slammed into him. He reached out and grabbed hold of it. Shocked, he set it on the ground.

"Rifana!" He yelled, quickly checking her over. She had jumped in front of the spell and took the attack. Her shield had taken the brunt of it, being highly resistant to magic, but Rifana wasn't without injury. The fur around her face was burned, and her HP had dropped quite a bit.

"Damn beast." The baroness drew back her hand. "She should have stayed out of my way."

Dante glared up at her. Her face twitched in fear for a moment before settling on a sick grin.

"Air Strike Shield VII!" Dante moved forward and placed his barrier between him and Rifana. "JoJo, protect Rifana while I kill this bitch."

"Do you have any idea who I am?!" The baroness screeched.

"I don't give a damn." Dante strode forward toward the center of the room, fist clenched.

With a wave of her hand, Dante lost his footing. The floor beneath him fell open, letting him drop down. Before he could think to activate his shield's levitation, he hit the ground, having dropped nearly 20 feet.

"Dad!" He heard JoJo call him from above.

"I'm fine!" Dante returned. "Don't worry about me, just keep Rifana safe!"

"You won't be fine for long!" The baroness bellowed. The sound of stone sliding against stone echoed above him. "Goodbye, Shield Demon!"

"Ah, she's getting away!" JoJo yelled.

"Leave her! Feed Rifana one of the potions she's carrying!" His family was more important than killing one noble and her knights. There'd be time later to hunt her down and kill her. As for people finding out what happened here, that was starting to look unavoidable.

With a moment to collect himself, Dante looked around where he landed. The torch light from the room above wasn't nearly enough to illuminate the pit, though a few shields did enhance his vision. The nearby rock wall told him this pit was merely a dug out room. The floor was hardened dirt and went out further into the darkness.

A foul stench assaulted his nose. It smelled of rot, but not from flesh. It was almost as if harvested crops had been left to spoil. Even more, Dante could just make out a violet mist in the air.

Poison? If that's what she had planned, she's in for a surprise. I have enough poison resistance to practically negate alcohol at this point.

A few thuds on the ground caught his attention. The sound of something being dragged was heard, slowly getting louder. From the darkness, a large figure started to emerge. It reached the ceiling of this underground room, standing wider than one of the filolials transformed. A white stalk came into view, a sinister looking face on it.

Is that a giant mushroom? Is this a death pit? Fine. Once I kill your pet rancor or whatever, I'll be back up there and chasing you down!

The name of the monster came up as "Czar Shroom" in his appraisal. It let out a loud howl, more gas expelling from its gaping maw. It spread all around Dante, but he didn't feel the effects of it.

"I hope this crap isn't flammable." Dante muttered, beginning his chant. "Zweite Fire Blast V!"

The ball of fire shot out and exploded against the monster's flesh. It didn't catch fire, but it didn't seem that resistant to it either. The czar shroom continued to lurch toward him.

"Unless you plan on crushing me, this battle is over. Zweite Fire Blast V!" He cast his spell again, burning the giant mushroom further. The fibers under its cap began to shrivel up. Still, it continued its approach. "Zweite Fire Blast V!"

The shroom began to screech, the flames finally taking hold of its body. With no arms to stamp out the fire, it fell to the ground in a vain attempt to smother them. The wide cap on its top prevented that from being anywhere close to effective.

After writhing around a few seconds longer, the czar shroom finally stopped moving. XP for the kill came into Dante's vision.

"Well, that was easy." Dante looked around the rocky room. There weren't any apparent ways out, and the wall closest to the pit entrance didn't have enough footholds. He'd need to use his levitate ability to climb it, then drift over to the entrance.

However, when he tried to move to the wall, he tripped over himself.

"The hell…did that poison actually affect me?" Dante did feel a bit disoriented, but not so much dizzy.

"Papa!" Dio yelled into the pit. Dante turned to see her jump down to him.

"Dio?" He looked up at her as he stood. "Where did you come from?"

"We saw some lady and knights come out of the wall while we were fighting." Dio explained.

"Then, you got her?"

"Yep!" She smiled brightly.

That was good. One less thing they needed to worry about. All that was left was to regroup, check on Rifana, eliminate any witnesses, and grab as much as they could. Hopefully, none of the guards that saw them were still alive.

Dio tilted her head to the side. "Papa, you look different."

"Huh? Wait…" Dante realized he was looking up higher than he normally did at Dio. She seemed to tower over him. He reached out his hand and found he couldn't reach her head, not by a long shot. Looking over his arm, he quickly understood the problem. "Son of a…"

~The Wrong Hero~

The party was able to meet back up in the audience chamber. Dante healed up Rifana the rest of the way. Before anything else, he wanted to gather up as many bodies as he could and find the baroness's treasure room. It wasn't hard to find the heavily reinforced door. Dante let his shield absorb a large amount of the coins, deciding to try out the Projectile method later. It wasn't as if Melromarc currency was going to be much use for a while. Exchanging it was possible, but there was more silver and bronze coins than he was expecting.

After that, there was a quick trip to Zeltoble to collect the monster remains. Khana was a bit surprised at seeing Dante, but there wasn't too much Dante wanted to discuss. He got his shield reveals and teleported back to Siltvelt. It was already half way through the night when they arrived, so they left anything not urgent for the morning.

It was around then that Dante decided it was a good time to catch up.

"Fiadia?"

"I don't want to be disturbed."

The rabbit woman could be seen through the now open door. She sat on the bed in one of the guest rooms of the castle.

"I brought you some food." Dante had a plate in his hand.

"Listen, boy, I didn't sleep well and want to be left alone." Fiadia said, more aggressively. "Just leave me…Lord…Sir…" When she finally looked over, she couldn't find the words.

Dante just smiled as he approached. When he stood in front of her, he held out the plate. "I haven't been sleeping well myself recently. You should eat before it gets cold. I had it cut up so you could eat it easily. I know how much that helps people like us."

Her mouth moved without any noise. She looked between Dante and the plate a couple times before slowly grabbing it. "What…happened to you?"

"Just a small setback. Ignore the pun." Even with Fiadia sitting on the bed, Dante had to look up at her.

Fiadia set the plate next to her. She went to the floor to sit on her knees. Even then, she was still slightly taller. "How did this happen? Who did this to you? Was it—"

"Fiadia, I'm fine." Dante placed his much smaller hand over hers as she reached for him.

"Sir Shield Hero, you're a child!" She yelled, finally finding the words.

The giant mushroom Dante briefly fought had a very unique ability. Anyone who breathed in its poisonous spores became younger. Truthfully, he was glad it was him and not anyone else. Sadeena would have been fine, but the others were only 10 years old or younger. Based on his height, Dante figured he lost about 10 years.

"I bet I'm the fittest seven-year-old you ever met." Dante brought his hand to his bare chest. While he did lose a bit of muscle, there was definitely still some there.

"This is no laughing matter!" Fiadia shook as she placed her single hand on his good shoulder.

"Yeah, I know." Dante grimaced slightly.

The situation wasn't lost on him. Under normal circumstances, his age regression would have been a bit funny. However, the source of it was the problem. That czar shroom was in what Dante figured was an execution room in that baroness's keep. There was no telling how many people she sent to their deaths like that. According to Rat, that monster's spores could continue making someone regress until they were a baby, understanding less and less of what was happening to them. At that point, well, nothing more needed to be said. Dante wasn't sure who was worse between Idol and that noble. Idol forced slaves to be cannibals and then eat them himself. This baroness likely watched as people were turned into children and killed.

As an aside, his stats had gone down, but not nearly as much as he might have thought. His base stats were down by half, but his regression didn't affect his equip bonuses or any of the power up methods. If he were a normal adventurer, this would have been extremely dangerous. That czar shroom could have weathered any attack someone infected by its spores could produce, at least long enough to kill them.

"What are you going to do?!" Fiadia was practically in tears.

"Easy, easy." Dante placed his small hand on her arm. "This is only temporary."

The first thing they did upon returning to Siltvelt was speak to Rat about his condition. She informed him that this was a type of curse. Fortunately, it wasn't permanent and wouldn't fester. It would normally last a few days, up to a week, depending on the potency of the spores. Another bit of good news was that this curse was partly a poison. With his resistance to it, Rat was confident he would be back to normal by tomorrow.

That also led to a brief discussion about curses, which Rat knew a bit about. There were three main types. The first was curse damage, like from Idol's whip. Those would almost always fester without treatment, and the damage was typically hard to heal without doing so. The second was from more natural sources, like the czar shroom. Some of those would become permanent, depending on a variety of factors. The last was curse series weapons, unique to heroes. Nothing was really known about those, except what might be recorded in churches for said heroes.

Rat was also under the impression that Dante would continue bringing these types of issues to her, and he couldn't say that she was wrong.

"Besides," Dante pressed on, "is this really what we need to talk about now?"

Fiadia sagged at his words. She nodded wordlessly at him.

"Alright then." He patted her arm. "Have some breakfast. You'll feel better."

She nodded again and slowly stood up. She took a seat at the edge of her bed, Dante hopping up and joining her on the other side of her plate. His shield was placed on his back, allowing him to move around more easily. It didn't shrink much with his size. Fiadia looked over at him, as if questioning if she could eat. Dante gestured to the food, prompting Fiadia to grab the provided fork and try some.

"This is good…" She murmured, stabbing more of the cooked meat and taking another bite.

"I'm glad. My cooking bonuses really help out." Dante told her. It also didn't hurt that he infused it with EP. Practicing with cooking had helped him regulate his output with it. It was also why his food tasted better than what they had when his party first arrived in Siltvelt. That didn't do anything for defending against defense-rating attacks, though. He'd need some real training for that.

She sputtered at his words. "Y-You cooked this?! Sir Shield Hero, I can't possibly—"

"Eat." Dante waved his hand at her. There wasn't a lot there, since Dante didn't think she would have too much of an appetite. It was mostly just to have her get some nourishment before they spoke about what happened.

Seeming to sense the mood, Fiadia continued to eat. She looked torn between finishing her food quickly and savoring the flavor. In less than a minute, she was done her small meal.

"Alright." Dante knew the first thing he needed to tell her, if she didn't already infer it. "The baroness is dead. A lot of her knights are too."

Fiadia breathed out a sigh of relief. "How did she die? Was it painful?"

"I imagine so." Dante smirked awkwardly. "Last night was a bit of a blur of violence for me, but I got the gist of it. Sadeena ran her through with her harpoon. I'm told she squirmed quite a bit before finally dying." Part of him was glad he didn't get his arm back yet. Given his attack and strength—which seemed to be much higher while he was at that keep—he was confident he could have literally torn some of those knights apart. Not something he wanted to show his party.

Fiadia smiled at that. "I see. Thank you, Sir Shield Hero."

"Don't thank me." Dante shook his head. "This is all my fault to begin with."

"No, Sir Shield Hero, it's not—"

"It is." Dante cut her off. "No matter how you look at it, I'm to blame. Idol's death led to his knights turning to banditry in Reichnott's lands. Then, when someone replaced him, this woman decided to attack Reichnott and abduct his citizens. The people I told to go to Reichnott's are all dead too. That girl Imiya is dead, and her uncle…he left too."

Fohl told him that when they returned. Tolly left the castle soon after arriving. Dante couldn't blame him, nor was he mad at Fohl for not keeping him close. Tolly's brother and sister-in-law, Imiya's parents, were already dead. His only other family also died in the attack when he was first enslaved. Outside of a few friends that might not even be alive, Imiya was all he had left.

"You didn't make those knights attack us." Fiadia told him, though there was bitterness in her voice.

"But I could have been there sooner." Dante admitted. "I was fighting in a wave when I saw Imiya and Tolly's HP go down. But…I didn't need to be. Instead of ending the wave as quickly as possible, I let the adventurers that agreed to help out convince me to go slowly. If I had taken it seriously right from the start, I could have come the moment I saw something was wrong."

That was why he knew he was at fault. He screwed around and treated it like a game, just like how the other three heroes would. If he went straight for the boss, they could have killed it just as easily as they did. Then, maybe Duke Chance wouldn't have showed up and prolonged the wave. Even if he did, either time would have run out, or Dante could have managed to get the upper hand.

"If I came sooner, Imiya would still be alive." Dante told her. "Maybe Reichnott would still—"

"Don't!" Fiadia winced the moment she spoke. She turned away from him.

"It's fine if you blame me. It's fine if you hate me. You can even hit me if it'll make you feel better." Dante was fully prepared to change out his shield so he could feel the strike.

Fiadia shook her head. "I don't blame you." Tears began to fall from her as she looked back at him. "And I could never hate you. This is as much my fault as it is yours."

"You didn't—"

"I did." It was Fiadia's turn to cut him off. "I told you how to sneak into Idol's estate. I told you how to lure out his guards." She wiped the tears from her face, only for new ones to replace them. "Countless days I wished to have my revenge against him. Then, when I was past my prime, you came along to do that for me. I got what I wanted, and I paid the price for it."

"…Yeah, I guess that's how it ends up working, isn't it?" He traced his hand over the scar on his stomach, the last wound he received from his old world. Dante was never really one to believe in fate and karma, but that seemed to happen plenty of times here.

"Can we talk about something else?" Fiadia asked him. "I don't want to think about what I lost anymore."

"Alright." Dante moved the plate aside and scooted closer. "What will you do now?"

"I…don't know." She looked down at her hand in her lap, slowly opening and closing her fist. "I spent so long with…I'm not sure what else I can do."

"I suppose fixing your arm should be the first thing we do. Your ear too. You'll have more options after that." Dante gestured to her missing right forearm and left ear.

"No, no, I couldn't ask for that." Fiadia waved her arm in front of her. "It would cost too much."

"I have an alchemist working for me. It's fine." It wasn't as if Rat couldn't do that. It would be a much easier project than his own arm. "Besides, I never properly thanked you for your help. You've earned this."

"Then…thank you, Sir Shield Hero." Fiadia gave him a small bow.

"Don't mention it." He said, reaching out his hand. Before he could stop himself, he gave her a quick pat on her head before pulling back his hand. "Ah, sorry…"

Fiadia rubbed the spot on her head Dante touched, her head turned away. "I-It's fine, Sir Shield Hero."

Like when he first became 17 again, he found different feelings in his much younger body. Impulse control seemed to be something he lost a bit of now. The single rabbit ear on her head seemed so inviting, he just couldn't help himself.

"Anyway," Dante segued the conversation back around, "if you don't have any plans for the future, I might have something for you."

"What would you recommend, Sir Shield Hero?" Fiadia regained her composure.

"How would you like to become a lady?"

"What?"

Dante shifted on the bed, crossing his legs and fully facing her. "I'm asking if you would be interested in governing some land in Siltvelt."

"I…that's…I simply couldn't accept that!" She stammered out. "I'm not a noble, and I've done nothing to earn such a thing."

"Both are true, but I have a workaround for that." Dante continued. "You see, there is some land nearby that was…destroyed in the wave." He had to bite back his rising anger at the thought. "I had some ideas for the future, but this would be something to use it for now. The people that survived the attack at Reichnott's need somewhere to go, or else they'll simply be refugees here."

From what Dante gathered, none of them even spoke Siltvelt's language. Melromarc's was really the only one they knew. Since that country wasn't a particularly safe place for demi-humans, this was a decent alternative.

"What about the nobility here?" Fiadia asked. "They would object to a former slave suddenly becoming a governor. And the resources to build a village, hiring guards, establishing trade, making farms—"

"See, you already know the fundamentals." Dante gave a lighthearted laugh. "You've watched lands being governed for years. I'm sure you'd make a great lady, and I'm confident you would take care of the people."

"Sir Shield…Lord Shield, this is too much to—"

"Relax, please." Dante waved her down. "You don't have to decide right away. Think it over for a few days. If you do decide to do it, just know I'll be there to help you get started. Even if you don't, please at least consider living there. There's a few things I need to take care of first anyway."

He hadn't talked with Rat much about it yet, but Dante would have her take a look at the bioplant seeds with him. Not only would she help make sure they wouldn't grow out of control—with proper management, at least—Dante recalled she was the one to make houses out of them. Having that would really jumpstart the village.

Additionally, he wasn't too concerned with the nobility objecting to this. Fiadia was a former slave, sure, but she was also a former soldier, and a survivor to a cowardly attack by another Melromarc noble in a demi-human heavy territory. There was only so much they could hide from Werner and the others, especially when dozens of demi-humans suddenly appeared in Dante's room. Propping her up as a noble for Melromarc to see is something he could completely believe the leadership here would do. Hell, Jaralis would likely lead the charge for it.

"I…see." Fiadia slowly nodded. "Then, I will think about your offer."

"Please do. I'd love a place I could go to relax that's not completely surrounded by politics. You'd be doing me a favor." Dante stood from the bed, grabbing the plate. "Get some more rest. If you need anything, don't hesitate to ask for me."

"I will." Fiadia bowed as Dante headed for the door. "Thank you, Lord Shield."

On a more selfish note, it would also ease his mind knowing the people he indirectly affected were taken care of. He also wanted to do something positive, before things spiraled more out of control.

Yesterday, after that baroness was dealt with, Sadeena gave him some bad news. One of the knights that was with her ran off when his lady died. When she caught up with him, he had just dispatched a small, flying monster with something attached to its foot. Sadeena believed she saw it carrying a crystal, but it was too far away to spot it again in the night sky before she could do anything about it.

When he thought about it, Dante remembered one of the knights was holding a crystal in his hand when he confronted the baroness. If he had to guess, it was a recording crystal. The worst case scenario—which Dante fully expected—was that crystal would reach someone who could edit it and make Dante look like he attacked unprovoked. It was partly why he wasn't so concerned about mentioning Idol now. He participated in the murder of a baroness in Melromarc. There was likely no escaping that revelation, in Melromarc or Siltvelt.

Dante was fully aware he just made the lives of everyone associated with him in Melromarc that much worse, especially any and all free demi-humans. He was worried about the nobles here trying to cause a war, and now he was the one setting up that path.

Author's Notes:

The attack was pretty quick, I admit. I was trying to get across Dante's more narrow focus on killing her, hence the lack of more details. Hoping that came across in my writing, and this note here is redundant. I also know I need to work on fight pacing a bit, though I'm not too big on huge fight scenes anyway.