Monday release instead! And there's a good reason for that
Right now every two weeks seems to be the consistent period for me to release a new chapter, and given how I'm having to juggle my work as well as make time for gaming, seeing friends and family and such, and combine that with the fact that some days I am more motivated than others to write…every two weeks seems to work.
Now then…the Shield-Hero anime…we're through the Spirit Tortoise arc and now into the next one. And Kizuna's here too, she's going to be a fun character to watch! But already we have an elephant in the room…our favourite waifu Raphtalia is there too which is severely dividing the fanbase given how her NOT being with Naofumi and Rishia was important for not only her own growth but Rishia's too. As such, I have purchased Light Novel 8 and am currently waiting to see where the anime takes us, but I am currently favouring the Light Novel series of events and having Raphtalia not be there. After all, what a joyous reunion it will be for Fergus and Raphtalia given their relationship…plus we can have Raph-chan and Fergus can be spared the embarrassment of seeing his girlfriend back in child form.
Heads up warning before this chapter…Chapter 5 may take a while longer to be released. Will explain more at the end, but for now enjoy Chapter 4! As usual, I do not own Rising of the Shield Hero or any of its characters, locations, events or anything else related to the anime/manga/Light Novels. The only thing I own is my OC, Fergus Ward. Enjoy!
Chapter 4 - Prelude to Calamity
As we were heading out from the village to start our long journey east, one of the Queen's shadows had appeared and tossed me a scroll containing a set of instructions from Her Majesty. However, as was the case with them all, the Shadow managed to fade away before I'd been able to question her about it, causing me to let out a sigh that was a mix of frustration and amusement.
"Everything okay Fergus?" Raphtalia had asked me once I'd turned back to the front of the cart. The two of us along with Keel were sitting at the front of the cart, with Keel currently holding onto Filo's reins, whilst Rishia had sequestered herself underneath the cart's canopy next to our supplies where she was currently nose-deep in another spellbook that Freya had given her before we'd left. We'd currently just passed the village gates and were heading on the roads towards Melromarc's eastern border, with the other two carts containing the other parties lined up and following behind us.
"It's fine, let's just see what this message is about…" I replied as I unravelled the sealed scroll and read its contents. It was directions from the Queen on the route we should travel to get to the outskirts of the Spirit-Tortoise Kingdom. According to her intel, there were two borders on the eastern edge of Melromarc's territory. If we went to the north-eastern border, we would pass into the demi-human nation of Siltvelt, which I'd originally plotted as a possible destination to pass through so that we could begin negotiations with them en route. However, the Queen advised against that, citing that since relationships between Melromarc and Siltvelt weren't as cordial as she would like at this moment, she feared that the more radical sects of Siltvelt would try to hold us, and in particular myself, hostage in order to wrangle more concessions out of Melromarc in exchange for a potential alliance. Instead, she suggested we take a more south-easterly bearing and head through the human nation of Haikazuya, one of the countries that she'd managed to get on our side for the upcoming fight against the Spirit-Tortoise, to its western border on which lay a small town that would serve as the staging ground for the alliance's armies.
It seemed like a sensible enough suggestion, and if we stuck to the northern regions of Haikazuya and skirted their border with Siltvelt, we might be able to find a border post or gate where we could, at the very least, pass on a message. And now that we had a definite staging point, we might be able to use my status as the Shield-Hero to maybe, just maybe, wrangle their co-operation, however slim it may be, in exchange for the future visit that I had promised in my reply to their original offer.
No matter what though, even if we pushed Filo and the other filolials to their maximum speed throughout, the journey would still take us at least 3 days, maybe more. And I had no interest in pushing Filo to exhaustion when we'd need her for the fight with the Tortoise and its familiars.
"Looks like we've got our heading and the location where we're gonna meet the Queen and the rest of the alliance she's putting together," I continued as I wrapped up the message." Keel, wave the others into position next to us so that we can pass it on." Keel nodded, passing the reins to Raphtalia as she got to her feet and waved her arm in a beckoning gesture, repeating this on the other side of the cart too so that both parties saw her. And as both carts drew up on either side I explained the message from the Queen and the new direction we'd be heading in, before urging everyone to sit back and relax when they could and enjoy the trip.
Raphtalia needed no such urging as she gave me a pointed look whilst motioning with her head towards the back of the cart. Needing no more invitation, she and I headed underneath the canopy where, after shepherding a startled Rishia and her spell-book out to the front of the cart, I immediately took her in my arms and held her tight, enjoying each other's comfort whilst we could as the hours of our journey started to tick by…
~AoaTSH~
The next three days on the road were a nice and relaxing change of pace from the hustle, bustle and sometimes stress of having to manage an up and coming village and all of its inhabitants. Instead of being a lord, I was just a simple traveller on the road with his love and a small group of friends which suited me right down to the ground. After all, it brought back memories of the time Raphtalia, Filo and I had travelled around Melromarc during my time as the Saviour of the Heavenly Fowl. Only this time we weren't having to do any business like that. Nope, despite the danger we were heading towards, for these three days, we'd just been a simple group of travellers on the road.
And during these past few days, I'd gotten to know our new companions that we were travelling with more than I had in the past month, through no fault of my own…I'd just been simply too busy with the whole business of running a town. Yes, I'd known their names and gotten a brief overview of their personalities when we were selecting the other parties, but that was a world of difference from actually spending time with them in person. And as with all large parties, some stuck out more than others.
A prime example of this was the dynamic between Jarek and the demi-human twins. The two girls would often find ways to prank and humiliate Jarek when they thought he was getting a bit too big for his boots. It was all harmless of course, a stolen boot or shirt here, an unsuspecting bucket of water dumped on his head there, the usual routine for prankers. And every time it happened, Jarek knew exactly who was to blame, nor did the girls deny it, and so a brawl would break out between them which the more senior members of the groups, such as Osmond and Doruk, would have to break up. And whilst all three were given a talking to each time, so far it hadn't done anything to stop the pranking war, and honestly, as long as no lasting harm was done, it wasn't the end of the world. And it did keep Jarek on his toes, a sight that provided amusement for everyone.
Valda was a workout freak. I thought the workouts I had and still put my party members through every day were bad enough, but she would often breeze through all of what we did and would keep going, more often than not doing double of what we did! And whilst it was impressive how dedicated she was to keeping herself in shape, it also gave the twins another target to try and prank, just to see if they could throw her off her game. But Valda always took it in stride...in fact, she enjoyed the challenge of doing push-ups with one of the twins sitting on her back and with everyone else encouraging her on.
Osmond and Doruk, as expected given what I'd just said, were the team 'dads' of their respective groups, always making sure their party members were okay and encouraging each one of them when they needed it. And they'd also taken on mentor-like roles for one or two of them. For example, Sirona was very curious about Osmond's connection to the Light and would often join the grizzled paladin in meditation to see if she too could unlock the same gift, whereas Aidan and Lynn (who'd never admit it to anyone else) often chatted to Doruk to seek out his advice on anything magic-related.
As for Fianna, she, like Keel, would often be out front of the cart holding onto their filolial's reins. She was really enjoying being around woodlands and nature, and whenever we camped she would often head off for an hour or two just to climb up a few trees or get close to the wildlife.
With all of these mixed-and-match personalities, it was an enjoyable and memorable few days of travelling through Melromarc, and Haikazuya once we'd passed through the border. In Melromarc there were streams and woodland aplenty, so we'd always be able to find good fishing spots and plenty of firewood for our camps. This was less the case in Haikazuya, which mostly contained mountain ranges, canyons and dust plains with the occasional stream of water or long plains of grass dotted throughout the region. As such we stocked up whatever wood and fish we could when we could and used those up as we continued our stretch through Haikazuya, skirting around the northern border and heading progressively west towards our arranged meeting point.
~AoaTSH~
Two other small events happened on our journey. The first was on the second evening of our journey, just as we'd made camp not far from the Melromarc/Haikazuya border. We'd just been getting the supplies out of our cart when Filo had, apparently out of the blue, just started talking to herself, which everyone knew was unusual behaviour for her since she was very comfortable interacting with everyone else with her usual beaming smile and carefree attitude.
"What's that? Is Master here?" I'd heard her ask, seemingly herself, as Raphtalia, Rishia and I all looked over at her, and what had been most unusual was that her cowlick, given to her by Fitoria, had been waving around in a clockwise circle the whole time. "Yeah, he's right next to me! We're currently heading east to the Spirit Tortoise Kingdom!" She'd then paused for a moment. "Yeah, sure I can ask him that…hey Master!" She'd then looked over in my direction. "Fitoria wants to know where exactly we're headed, and if we plan to defeat the Spirit Tortoise!"
"Hold up, she's talking with Fitoria? How?!" I'd remembered asking myself as everyone around us had stopped whatever they were doing and were giving Filo curious and puzzled looks. "Filo…are you telling me you and Fitoria are currently speaking to each other?" She'd nodded. "Okay, and this may seem like a stupid question, but just how are you doing that? Isn't she miles in the opposite direction right now?"
"Yup, but somehow I can hear her right now!" Filo had replied with a mixed expression of curiosity and awe as she'd turned to face us, allowing us a proper view of her cowlick twirling around. The way it was circling…it reminded me of one of those satellite receivers from back in my own world. That in turn made me conclude that Filo's cowlick worked in the same way, allowing Fitoria to speak to Filo whenever she wanted.
"Hang on, she still speaking…yup…okay I'll pass it on!" Filo said after a short moment of silence before looking at me again. "Fitoria asks you to remember the choice she and you spoke of last time, that if the Four Heroes still can't work together yet…then you must take down the Spirit Tortoise…there, that's all she wanted to tell you!" As the small blonde finished speaking her cowlick suddenly stopped twirling around and returned to standing upright.
"The choice she and I spoke of…" I'd murmured to myself as I recalled Fitoria's words from that night: "If you choose to fight for the world, you will fulfil your duty but many lives will be lost in the process. However, that is the easier choice. If you choose to fight for the people, you will face many hardships and trials, but in doing so you will have made the same choice that the previous Heroes had made before you, and is the path they expected their successors to take." Back then my answer had been that I would fight for the people, even those who had been persecuting me at the time. She'd been pleased with my answer, telling me that whilst it would be a harsh road with many trials to overcome, she had faith that, with the aid of those around me, I'd be able to overcome them. "I see…thank you, Filo…" I'd then drifted off into some quiet contemplation over those words, with everyone else, including Raphtalia, even though she'd looked at me with some concern, giving me some space so that I could be alone with my thoughts.
Just like last time…Fitoria was helping without appearing to help, giving the words but not the answer…it must have something to do with the Spirit Tortoise…maybe something it could do? Or its purpose? Try as I might I didn't find an answer that night. It'd probably become clearer once we got to the Tortoise.
The second major event had happened not long after we'd entered Haikazuya and started on our north-westerly bearing towards our destination. As I'd hoped, the path we chose brought us almost parallel with the Haikazuya/Siltvelt border and, fortunately, we'd been able to come across one of the border posts that was manned by a mix of human and demi-human soldiers, a sign that Haikazuya at least was on good terms with Siltvelt. As we'd approached, the demi-humans had taken one look at me and were immediately in awe, even abandoning their post to come down and meet me personally. After exchanging greetings, I told them about what was going on and asked, if at all possible, if Siltvelt would be able to help, and if not, pass on a message that once this was all over I'd definitely drop in and visit. Their captain replied that he didn't have the authority to send anybody to come with me, but would ensure that my message got to the right people at least. I'd thanked them for that and, after a couple more exchanges, we'd departed and continued on our way.
~AoaTSH~
On the fourth day of travel, as we'd progressed further west into Haikazuya towards the next border, the mood around our parties had turned grim as we began to witness what effect the Spirit Tortoise was happening on the world. It'd started off as a small trickle, usually as groups of two or three, but as we continued travelling, the crowds of people became larger and larger. And as we stopped and spoke to several of them, it was clear what was happening: These people were inhabitants of not only Haikazuya but other nations as well that were further eastward and had already been devastated by the Spirit Tortoise and its familiars.
"These poor people…I wish we could do more for them…" Raphtalia murmured as we headed up a winding path whilst passing by even more crowds of refugees.
"So do I…but there's too many for us to help right now. We're doing what we can though," I replied, looking back at our convoy as I spoke. As the crowds of refugees had gotten larger, I'd told Keel, Aidan and Sirona to hand out whatever supplies we could spare to those desperately in need of them, and if we came across someone seriously ill or injured, either myself, Osmond and Sirona would stop and use our magic to heal them as best we could.
"Right now the best thing they can do is get as far west as possible, that's the message we're passing on," Keel spoke up as she handed out a spare blanket to an old lady. "Hopefully they'll survive, and once we deal with the Spirit Tortoise, they can come back and rebuild."
"Judging by what we've heard though…it's going to take a lot of rebuilding…" I grimaced as I remembered what some of the refugees had told me about the Spirit Tortoise, how it had sent out its familiars to attack the populations of each city and town it encountered whilst crushing whatever buildings were in its way. "There's one bit of good news though…according to the map we're getting close to the border town that'll serve as our staging point. Once there, we can keep an eye on things until Her Majesty arrives, and if we're lucky the rest of the armies will already be there…"
I was cut off as a chorus of sudden, terrified screams rang out from up ahead of us, and just as we all swivelled our heads in that direction, another small group of refugees came pounding down the road, their expressions frantic.
"Somebody help! Monsters are attacking the town up ahead!" One of them yelled. "They're going after everyone, travellers and civilians alike!"
"Shit! The familiars must've already arrived, which means the Tortoise can't be too far away!" "All of you, get as far away from here as you can! We'll handle this!" I bellowed. "Keel! Signal the others to advance with all speed, straight to the border town!"
"On it!" She yelled as she bounded through the canopy to the back of the cart, and started frantically motioning to the others.
"Raphtalia! Rishia! Hold on tight!" I ordered. "Filo! Full speed ahead, don't stop for anything!"
"'Kay! Get out the way everyone, we're coming through!" She replied as she rapidly accelerated. Thankfully those ahead had heard her and were able to get out of her way as we barrelled up the path. Keeping a tight hold of her reins, I chanced a look behind me and saw that the other two carts had picked up on Keel's signals and were keeping pace. And as we turned a sharp corner, we saw the border crossing not far ahead of us, along with the pandemonium occurring at its gates as the same bat-like monsters we'd seen at New Rurorona swarmed all over the checkpoint, several of them swooping down and attacking the civilians who hadn't yet managed to escape.
And that wasn't the only danger, as from our left-hand side charged a horde of monsters that looked like a mix of a gorilla and a yeti, covered in white fur everywhere apart from their hands and feet which were coloured black with two sharp fangs protruding upwards from their mouths and glowing orange eyes that were currently glaring hungrily at the helpless civilians. And just like the bats, these too were labelled as 'Spirit Tortoise familiars'
"Alright everyone, keep heading towards the checkpoint! Once we get close, we'll jump off and engage!" I bellowed as the other carts pulled alongside mine as we charged for the checkpoint. "Team 3! Your priority is to save any civilians in danger and get them inside the town! Once everyone is safe, you'll join my team and Team 2 in holding off the rest of the familiars! Understood?"
"Yes sir! We'll make sure no one else gets hurt!" I heard Doruk yell back in response.
"Oh come on Boss-man, at least give me a crack at some of those monkeys!" I heard Jarek complain.
"Shove it Jarek!" I heard Valda snap back. "This isn't one of our drill sessions! This is reality! People's lives are on the line, and they're far more important than your own selfish needs!"
"Team 2, you'll come straight with us and engage the familiars!" I continued, ignoring Jarek's whines of protest. "Osmond, as soon as we ditch the carts, cast whatever spells you have to hold aggro! Try and get as many as you can, I'll get the rest!"
"Understood!" I heard his reply.
"Once we have their attention, I want all the melee fighters to engage the monkeys! Archers and magic-casters, you deal with the bats! And given the numbers of our enemy, hold nothing back! Understood?!" From all around me I heard various yells of affirmation. "Team 1, you all ready?"
"I'm with you Fergus," I heard Raphtalia state as she stepped up alongside me, sword bared.
"You can count on me!" Keel stated confidently as she put an arrow to her bow and prepared to fire.
"I-I'll do my very best Sir Fergus!" Rishia called out nervously.
"As always, stay safe, don't be a hero, cover each other's backs and pick your targets, we'll get through this." I then returned my gaze frontwards. "Filo, on my mark, ditch the cart and go wreak some havoc. Sound good?"
"Okey-dokey!" The Filolial chirped back as we bore down on the checkpoint. Surprisingly the familiars hadn't sensed our approach, which was the only crumb of comfort right now. It meant we could launch our assault and kill a good number of them before they had a good chance to retaliate.
"Steady…" I commanded as we approached, before switching out to my Buffing Shield. "Valiant Wall," I murmured softly, and as I spoke a small blue glow surrounded myself, my party members and the other two parties as their defence stats got boosted. "And…NOW FILO!" As I spoke I quickly yanked her reins back, detaching them in one swift motion and allowing the cart to come to a skidding halt
"SPIRAL STRIKE!" Surrounding herself with a burst of wind, Filo ploughed forward, blasting back any of the bat-like creatures in her way.
"Keel! Fianna! Pick off those stragglers hounding the civilians!"
"Multi-shot!" Keel cried, launching several bolts at the familiars which hit their mark. At the same time, Fianna launched shot after shot from her bow, picking off any that Keel had missed.
"Head back towards the town, we'll take care of the rest!" I yelled at the civilians we'd just rescued, who needed no further urging as they dashed back towards the checkpoint, where they were joined by Party 3 who began to herd them, along with the others, inside the gates as the rest of my party, along with Party 2, formed up next to and around me as we faced down the rest of the bat familiars, along with the charging horde of ape familiars. "Alright Osmond, you ready? DO IT!"
"Yes sir! Hand of Reckoning!" He thrust the arm holding his mace forward as a beam of light shot out, impacting one of the charging ape familiars and causing it to let out a pained yell as it turned its glare towards him as Osmond now thrust his shield forward instead. "Righteous Defence!" This time an even larger beam of light shot forward in an arc, striking the monsters surrounding the one he'd already taunted and drawing their gaze towards him as well.
Not to be outdone I brought forth my Shield of the First Avenger, my usual go-to Shield for combat. "Hate Reaction!" I yelled, causing the familiar red glow to burst forth and catch the attention of the monsters that Osmond hadn't picked up. "Alright, we've got their attention! Melee, focus on the apes, ranged, deal with the last of the bats!"
"Right!" I heard various cries around me as I felt, rather than saw, Raphtalia step up to my left side with sword drawn, whilst on my right I saw Myla twirl her spear in readiness. With most of the monsters' attention now focused on us, Filo used her speed to start heading around their flanks with a cloaked Marsa on her back. As for the bats above us, they were being rapidly cut down with arrows and magic as Keel and the magic-casters let fly, leaving us free to focus on the ground assault.
As the horde of ape-like monsters drew into melee range, the one in the lead drew back an arm and swiped straight for my head, and in response, I raised my Shield and caught the swipe, and as the ape followed through I used its momentum to shove it to my left where Raphtalia was waiting to cut it down ease. At the same time, two more of the monsters barrelled straight at Osmond, who planted his shield in their faces and caused them to stun themselves on impact, allowing Myla to cut one down whilst the other was picked off by an arrow from Keel.
This pattern continued for the next few attacks as the monsters continued to blindly charge straight at mine and Osmond's shields, allowing us to block and stun them thus leaving them vulnerable for follow-up attacks from Raphtalia and Myla. At the same time, Filo had managed to get around the rear of the advancing horde and was now laying waste to their back ranks using a combination of her claws and Wind magic. Not to be outdone by the Filolial, Marsa plied her twin blades and sliced and diced through the ones that Filo left behind whilst remaining under the cover of stealth. Eventually, Keel and the magic-casters were able to take down the last of the bats and were now giving us cover as they picked off any monsters on the flanks that we were missing.
All seemed to be going too well so far…the monsters were only level 30-35 and with our higher levels and skill, we were easily able to counter their overwhelming numbers. But as I took the opportunity to take the offensive myself and stunned a couple of the remaining monsters with my Discus Throw, we suddenly heard more roars from the nearby cliffs, and as we looked over we spotted another horde of the ape-like monsters charging down the cliffsides towards us…only this time the group was much larger than the one we'd just defeated.
"That's more than I think we can gather up Sir!" Osmond reckoned as he cut down the last familiar in his path, sweat glistening off his brow. "Plus we've been giving it everything so far…don't know how much everyone's got left!"
He was right, I was already starting to tire, and as I looked around me I saw looks of exhaustion on the faces of the other members of his party. Myla and Marsa in particular looked as though they were about to keel over. As for my team, they still looked like they could go a while longer, but I'm sure they were feeling it too.
"We need something big to reduce their numbers and fast! Anyone got any ideas?" I asked out loud. There was silence for a few seconds, and then…
"S-sir Fergus…?" I heard a stutter from behind me, and as I turned to look I saw Rishia shakily raise her hand. "I-I can use wind magic to blow apart some of the cliff-side and make the debris fall on them…if that's okay?"
I looked from her to the horde of monsters coming down the cliffs. It wouldn't take too much longer for them to reach the flat ground and start advancing in our direction so I needed to make the choice now, and Rishia's idea was all we had. "Do it. Filo, give her a hand!"
"''Kay!" The Filolial exclaimed as she and Rishia took a few steps towards the oncoming horde and started focusing their magical power around themselves, and as they did so a huge buffet of wind started swirling around us, almost knocking a few of the lighter members of our feet.
"So much power! At this rate, we'll get blown away in no time!" Aidan yelled, planting his staff into the ground and using it to steady himself.
"They can't afford to hold back, not with the amount of power they need!" I ground out in response as I slowly lifted my Shield up. "Shield Prison!" At my command, the familiar ball of chained shields sprung up around the rest of us. And though this protected us from the worst of the built-up wind, it was still getting battered about all over the place.
"You ready Rishia?" I heard Filo exclaim
"R-Ready!" Came the slightly stammered reply from the magic caster.
"DRIFA WIND CUTTER!" Both of them cried out as all of a sudden the gusts of wind buffeting the Shield Prison suddenly vanished. Feeling it was safe to do so, I dropped the Shield Prison just in time to see the results of Rishia and Filo's dual spell hit the sides of the cliff that the familiars were charging down from, causing an explosion of rock and debris that not started falling upon the charging apes, but also created a rock-slide that crushed any of the familiars in its path. From a quick glance, I surmised that their team effort had succeeded in wiping out at least three-quarters of the advancing horde.
"Great job you two!" I cheered as we all stepped forward. "We'll take care of the rest."
"No need Sir Fergus," I heard a familiar voice call out from behind me in an amused tone as all of a sudden some of the debris was yanked from the ground into the air and then was sent crashing into the rest of the charging apes, crushing several of them. As I looked back I saw Doruk and the rest of Party 3 arrive on the scene. "Let us step up in your stead."
"Yeah you guys have had all the fun, now it's our turn!" Jarek exclaimed as he charged right by us, greatsword raised.
"Are all the non-combatants safe?" Raphtalia asked out loud as Valda and Fianna also passed by, determined not to let Jarek have all the fun.
"They are Lady Raphtalia," Sirona spoke up with a gentle smile as she threw up a barrier spell around Jarek and Valda before attending to the rest of us. Thankfully no one had any major wounds, just a few scrapes and cuts that Sirona was able to heal pretty easily.
"Once everyone was inside, the guard-captain gave me a message, said it was for your eyes only," Doruk said next, passing me a sealed scroll.
"Did he say who it was from?" I asked. As I spoke, Raphtalia, Filo, Myla and Marsa, having recovered from their exhaustion and wounds, went to join in the effort to mop up the remaining familiars whilst Keel took up a position next to Fianna to snipe any stragglers.
"No, just said it was important that you alone read it," Doruk replied gravely as we watched the others cut down the last of the familiars and exchange a quick round of high fives before returning to us, some of them, such as Jarek and the twins, grinning widely.
"So, how'd you all find that?" I asked our newcomers as Raphtalia sat on a nearby rock and started cleaning her blade whilst Keel and Fianna went around the battlefield to pick up any salvageable arrows.
"That was awesome, hardly broke a sweat!" Jarek bragged with an ecstatic smile, leaning on his greatsword.
"These guys weren't too much trouble…I'd say that was a good learning experience for our first expedition" Valda stated seriously.
"Indeed, those enemies were all in the level 30s, not too much trouble individually but as a group, we might've been in trouble," Osmond reasoned. "It's good we had ranged and magic cover to keep us from getting surrounded."
I nodded at all these points. "As Valda said, for a first expedition it was a good learning ground, and overall you guys did well." Everyone else had come over as I was speaking and were now huddled up, listening to me expectantly as I spoke. "I know the third group didn't get to see much action, but what you did was equally as important. The most crucial factor in any engagement is to preserve as many lives as possible, and you five did exactly that by escorting the civilians back inside the walls. As for everyone else, you did a great job following instructions and keeping each other safe." I now had a big smile on my face. "I'm really proud of you all, well done."
Everyone let out a cheer at my words and started exchanging hugs and high-fives amongst themselves, but as they did so I noticed Rishia had withdrawn off to the side wearing a mixed expression of embarrassment and confusion, and I wandered over to where she was standing. "Everything okay?" I asked.
"I-I didn't do much, so I don't think it's fair for me to take part…" She muttered abashedly, a small blush of embarrassment on her cheeks.
"Hey, that's not true at all," I said as I put a gentle hand on her shoulder. Over the past month of having gotten to know her, I knew gentle encouragement was what Rishia needed at times like this. "You gave as good support as any with your spells, and if I hadn't been for you and Filo's wind spell we probably would've gotten over-run by that horde of ape familiars. If anything, you saved our lives and probably the lives of the people in the town as well…so don't sell yourself short, you were a real hero today and I'm proud of you."
At these words, Rishia blushed bright red in embarrassment, but at the same time her face cracked into a small smile. "R-really? I did all that?" I nodded. "I…just…all I d-did was do my b-best…I-I'm sure I could have done more…"
"Rishia," I said a bit firmer this time. "You did really well, alright?" She was a tiny bit startled by my extra firmness at first but then gave me a small nod in thanks. And as she did so, her gaze went over my shoulder and her eyes widened.
"S-Sir Fergus…there's someone behind us!" She exclaimed, and as I turned round in the direction she was looking I saw everyone's gaze flick in that direction as well. Coming towards us was a figure in a dark purple robe whose head was covered by a hood that obscured most of their facial features, but as she drew a bit closer I was able to make out the features of a woman with pale skin, green eyes and what appeared to be brown hair that was all hidden by their hood.
"If I'm not mistaken," she called out in a loud and firm voice. "You are the fabled Shield-Hero, are you not?"
"I am the Shield-Hero Fergus Ward, yes," I replied carefully as the others gathered around me, weapons drawn but otherwise making no further moves. "Who are you, and how did you know who I am?"
The woman seemed to sigh in relief at my answer. "I thought so, and I'm glad you're here…along with your many brave companions." She then clasped her hands together in front of her as though in prayer and looked straight at me, her expression desperate. "Shield-Hero…I beg of you…please…kill me!" She beseeched us.
"What is she-?" But before I could process her words, the same ear-piercing roar that we'd all heard back in New Rurorona rang out all around us, causing everyone to drop their weapons as they covered their ears and closed their eyes, only this time the roar seemed to shake and rattle the ground all around us as it continued. Eventually, after about half a minute of it, the roar died down.
"That was the roar we all heard back in the village after you and the others drove back those familiars the first time!" Aidan exclaimed.
"Yeah, but that time was much louder and it shook the ground around us," Doruk replied grimly. "I could actually feel the earth underneath us shaking.
"That was the roar of a beast who was successful on the hunt…I could almost hear the satisfaction behind it," Fianna spoke up, a worried expression on her face. "And judging by the increased noise…it's close."
"I think we all know what this means…" I concluded as I looked back at them all seriously. "The Spirit Tortoise is close." As I spoke, I saw various expressions of worry, panic and grim determination flit among the others. Raphtalia, looking extremely worried, pressed herself into my side, and in response, I wrapped an arm around her and held her close.
"Master…where'd that weird lady go?" Filo asked suddenly, and as I looked around I noticed that the mysterious woman we'd just encountered had seemingly vanished into thin air without leaving so much of a trace.
"That's odd…it's almost as if that roar had something to do with her disappearance…" Keel reasoned.
"You may have a point Keel…and if you are right…" I trailed off. Right now we didn't have enough knowledge to connect any supposed dots revolving around the attack on the town, the Spirit Tortoise and the mysterious woman. I shook my head as I laid out our next course of action. "In any event, we've arrived where we're supposed to be. For now, all we can do is wait for the Queen and the armies she's gathered to arrive. Osmond, Fianna, see what you can do about getting our other carts back and into the town. Everyone else, let's head on in and recuperate. I have a feeling we're going to need all the rest we can possibly get for what's about to come…"
No one argued that point. We had won our first battle, but the real fight was still to come…
~AoaTSH~
As we entered the border town, the guard captain was there to greet us. After expressing his thanks for defending the town and saving the villagers, he rewarded us by giving us suitable quarters for myself and the rest of us to wait and relax.
As everyone proceeded to do just that, my footsteps led me instead to the battlements on top of the gate we'd just entered, and as I reached the highest point on top of the walls I quickly glanced all around me to check no one was snooping before proceeding to unravel the scroll. As I did, my eyes widened as I notice that it was a short message from, of all people, Ren:
Fergus,
I'll keep this brief: Motoyasu and Itsuki have screwed things up. They think between the pair of them and their parties they'd be able to defeat the Spirit Tortoise, and so during one of the nights as were marching, they and their parties gave myself, the Queen and Eclair the slip and charged off on their own.
If I hadn't overheard them talking about it myself, I'd have had no idea where they'd gone. But thankfully for them, and hopefully everyone back in Melromarc, I did. They seem to keep forgetting we're all needed to fight back the Waves, but I haven't, and whilst I may not care for them much right now, we need them alive. My party and I have gone off after them. If at all possible, I'll try and help them kill the Tortoise, but if not, the very least I can do is stop from getting themselves killed and get them out of there.
I'm sorry I let this happen, and when the Queen arrives, apologise to her and Eclair from me. And in case we're outmatched, please hurry after us.
Ren Amaki
I lowered the scroll gently to the ground…some basic instinct, an instinct that was slowly fading due to the sheer amount of stupidity that I was once again having to swallow, telling me that I had to preserve it. And all the time as I gently went to my knees I was trembling as my anger started to boil.
Those morons…Those…brain-addled…pieces of horse shit! WHAT THE HELL WAS WRONG WITH THEM?!
Were they really that fucking petty…about the Queen's remark about how they were nowhere near as strong as they should be that they fucking RAN OFF on a suicide mission against this monster that seemed bent on destroying us?!
DID THEY CARE AT ALL ABOUT BEING HEROES?! Did they not possess a single fucking brain cell that made them remember that if either of them died, the world was fucked?!
Those…ABSOLUTE…PISS-BAGS! I angrily started pummelling the ground in front of me, a small part of my mind that wasn't addled by anger glad that I was wearing my gauntlets…because the way I was punching the stonework…if my hands had been bare, they would have been bleeding buckets.
Those *pound* ABSOLUTE *pound* GODS-BE-DAMNED *pound* CRAP-BAG *pound* SONS OF BITCHES!
"The guard-captain told me I could find you up here…I just wanted to let you know…" I dimly heard Raphtalia's voice trail off from nearby, but quiet as it was it didn't fully register with me that she'd arrived, even as she let out a loud cry at what she saw. "FERGUS!"
I didn't turn or otherwise react as I planted my hands on the ground and let out a loud roar of anger, my vision turning red as my brain started shutting down, unable to properly resist the well-spring of rage and frustration welling up inside me. Heck, there were even tiny spouts of black flame that were slowly starting to appear on the ground around me, but so lost was I in the maelstrom of my anger that I didn't notice. In fact, I was so far gone that I was barely aware of Raphtalia throwing herself to the ground next to me and wrapping her arms around me desperately, pulling me into her. But my body did, and upon feeling the familiar presence stopped trembling so bad.
"Fergus…please…come back to me…don't give in…" I heard Raphtalia, a lot clearer this time, whisper in my ear. "I'm here…it's okay…please don't go there again…" And as she held me tighter, pressing my head in between her breasts, I felt my anger die down as the blood haze lifted.
"Raphtalia?" I found myself murmuring, my voice slightly hoarse.
"I'm here my love…I'm here…it's okay…" she continued to whisper in my ear as my body finally relaxed, the final bits of anger finally fading away as I drank in Raphtalia's scent…the feel of her body…everything familiar that I loved about her…
"I'm…sorry you had to see that…" I murmured as I wrapped my arms around her and gave her a warm squeeze, signalling that I was fully back to myself. "And I'm glad you arrived when you did…if you hadn't…" I didn't want to think about what would've happened if I'd let my anger take control of me again.
"Me too…" Raphtalia spoke softly as we released the hug, a worried expression still on her face. "What happened to make you so angry though?"
Not trusting myself to speak, I indicated the letter I had placed on the ground. Raphtalia picked it up and, as she read it, her expression grew even more worried if that were possible. "Why would they do this? Didn't they listen when the Queen told you all that you wouldn't be able to defeat the Tortoise alone?"
"Obviously not…" I growled. "To be honest, whatever their reason…I don't fucking care…they've just gone and gotten themselves in a huge mess…and it's gonna be up to the rest of us to pull their assess out of the fire…again…
"It's good that Sir Ren doesn't feel the same but…" she indicated the note. "If he's gone after them, even to bring them back…he could be in danger too…"
I nodded. "This expedition just became a lot more deadly. Not only do we need to defeat the Spirit Tortoise, but now we all also need to prevent the other Heroes from getting killed." I let out a weary sigh. "I just hope the Queen gets here soon…"
All of a sudden a horn blasted from the valley below, and as Raphtalia and I spun around…well speak of her and she shall appear as we spotted Queen Mirellia herself, along with Eclair, riding at the head of what appeared, at first glance, a force of at least a couple of thousand soldiers from Melromarc. Wasting no time, I leapt off the gate, swiftly followed by Raphtalia, and after using several Air-Strike Shields as platforms to bring us down to the ground, we strode towards the Queen as she and Eclair trotted towards us.
"It's good to see you Sir Fergus, Raphtalia," the Queen spoke up as we approached. Eclair gave us a sharp nod as her way of greeting. Upon seeing my grim expression, Mirellia's original smile was replaced by a frown. "What's wrong?"
Raphtalia passed me Ren's note that I handed up to her. "Things have just got a lot more complicated…" I answered shortly as she gave it a read, as she did her eyes narrowed in a mix of alarm and frustration
"I see…we'll need to get things moving more swiftly than I'd planned. General!" Eclair snapped a swift salute. "Get the troops on the other side of the town and set up camp, on the double!"
"Ma'am!" Eclair nodded before riding back towards the army.
"Sir Fergus, you and Raphtalia will come with me." She instructed. "As soon as the other leaders arrive, we'll get started with our council straight away."
"Yes Your Highness!" We answered as one.
~AoaTSH~
In what seemed next to little time at all, the remaining forces that the Queen had gathered were marshalling on the other side of the border town. All in all, there were roughly 10,000 troops that had been rallied not only from Melromarc but from the other nations as well, a mix of infantrymen, archers, cavalry, siege weapons and what looked like a detachment of mages that comprised the entirety of one nation's force.
In the castle town itself, the Queen had hastily arranged a conference with the leaders of the other nations. Alongside her, with Eclair standing dutifully at her side, and myself and Raphtalia were the commanders of the armies belonging to the nations of Haikazuya, Lowhirot, and Mideus along with the remnants of the Spirit Tortoise Kingdom's forces who'd been able to evacuate from Reiki, the city on the Tortoise's back, just in time.
A quick tally was taken of the forces that we had at our disposal: Melromarc was providing the majority of the infantry, supplies and finances, whilst the nation of Haikazuya had brought the second-largest force consisting mainly of cavalry archers and dragon riders along with an infantry company. Lowhirot was providing siege weapons and sappers, along with a token infantry force to defend them, whilst the magic-city of Mideus had provided a regiment of their most powerful magic-casters (or at least that's what their representative had told us). Finally, the Spirit Tortoise Kingdom had rallied whatever soldiers and archers it could, the majority having been killed or had fled when the Tortoise awoke.
Once that was over we got straight down to business as the Queen asked for a status update. The Lowhirot representative explained that, after it'd destroyed their capital, the Spirit Tortoise had started making its way towards the Lowhirot/Haikazuya border (where we were currently stationed) when all of a sudden, after the roar we'd heard a while ago, it had suddenly stopped and lain down to rest, and that according to the legends it would remain that way for about two or three days. The Queen spoke up next, saying that the Tortoise's targets would be densely populated towns and cities in order to take as many lives as possible, and if that were the case its next target would be one of the larger towns in the Haikazuya nation, and that by amassing as large a force as possible at this border crossing we'd be able to distract its attention and cause it to head our way instead.
"That means we've got 2 or 3 days at least to come up with a plan to take it down…the sooner the better," I interjected.
"Plan?! We don't need a plan for this!" the Haikazuya representative shouted back. "We have brave knights and soldiers from four of the strongest kingdoms of the land! If we charge in with our full force, that Tortoise won't stand a chance!" The Mideus representative nodded in agreement.
"He's right, and we certainly don't need the help of the Four Heroes!" the Lowhirot representative stated.
This infuriated the representative from the Spirit-Tortoise kingdom who got to his feet and banged the conference table loudly. "You're all fools!" He exclaimed, a pained expression on his face. "We threw thousands of our most loyal knights at that thing. They fought with everything they had and hardly made a scratch!" He then turned a stern gaze to the whole table. "Defeating it using conventional methods is out of the question, so like it or not we do need the help of the Four Heroes to stop it."
None of the other representatives were wholly convinced. "Even if that were true, I only see the Shield-Hero among us," the Lowhirot representative pointed out before turning his gaze to the Queen. "You said all four Heroes would be here…so where are the Sword, Spear and Bow Heroes?"
"I doubt the representative was kidding about barely making a scratch in that monster…DAMN THOSE BASTARDS for running off when we need them most!" I looked over at the Queen, and as we locked gazes I gave her a weary nod. If we wanted to keep this alliance together, we couldn't afford to keep the truth from them. "The other Heroes…won't be joining us…" I started slowly, causing the expressions of the other representatives to darken. "But not through any fault of mine or Her Majesty." I pushed Ren's note to the middle of the desk. "This is a message from the Sword-Hero, explaining what happened and where they currently are."
As the note was passed around the other representatives, their expressions went from anger to alarm, followed by dismay and then finally to pained acceptance of the situation. "How...? How could they be so foolish as to think they could fight that thing on their own?" the Spirit Tortoise kingdom representative asked in dismay.
"We have no choice then, we must formulate a plan without delay!" the Lowhirot representative spoke up firmly. "If we lose any of the Four Heroes, the world will fall to the Waves. We have to save them and defeat the Spirit Tortoise!"
"Looks like being honest with that note got them all on the same page…" I thought with relief. "Then let's put together a plan to that effect whilst minimising casualties as much as we can," I spoke up. "Whatever we come up with, you can count not only on my support but also that of my companions and the rest of the adventurers I brought with me." I felt Raphtalia squeeze my shoulder affectionately in approval at my words as the Queen smiled and the other representatives let out a sigh of relief at my offer.
"Thank you, Sir Fergus," the Queen said before turning her gaze to the other representatives. "Now that we are all aware of the gravity of the situation, let's put all the knowledge and resources we have at our disposal together in order to come up with a plan…" And as they all started to discuss tactics and where to apply their forces, I merely sat back and listened, my only contribution to the discussion being that my forces and I would be available wherever they were needed.
"...before we get the Shield-Hero's thoughts on our plan, I'd like to know what's taking the Seven Star Heroes so long to get here." The words of the Mideus representative brought my attention fully back to the conversation. From the snippets I'd overheard whilst slightly zoned out, they had the makings of a good plan.
And as for what he'd just said…I'd never even factored the Seven Star Heroes into the equation of this expedition, even after the Queen had explained them to me and the others. I guess I'd just been so focused on my own part in this that I hadn't thought of them at all.
"I have received word that they've left their countries and are on their way here," the Lowhirot representative replied, hands folded in a steeple. "But some are still far off, and given the seriousness of our situation…we may have to go ahead without them."
"That's a shame…having them around may have compensated for the other Heroes not being here." "Agreed. As much as I'd prefer having them with us given the current circumstances, we don't have the luxury of time to wait for their arrival," I conceded. "Now…about this plan you all came up with…"
"Hey! This is a private conference between all the leaders! You can't just-!" This sudden outburst by one of the guards guarding the conference doors not interrupted my train of thought but also drew everyone's attention, and as everyone's gazes were drawn towards them the doors were slowly and very carefully opened, and through the open door walked a very familiar figure.
"Um…excuse me…" they spoke in a soft voice. It was the same mysterious woman we'd encountered after fighting off the familiars, the one who'd begged for us to kill her.
"Fergus…isn't that…?" Raphtalia quietly exclaimed.
"Yeah…" I replied, my eyes locked on the new arrival.
"Hold on!" The Queen spoke up, her tone both alarmed and questioning. "Aren't you…?"
"Yes…it's been many years…and now we meet again, Queen Mirellia of Melromarc." The new arrival replied.
"Hold on…What?"
And that's where we're going to end things for now. I know I said before that I'd get through the council and Ost in this chapter, but as I kept writing and the word count kept going up…if I'd tried to put the rest of episode 2 in here, it would probably have gone to about 12/13k, and so I've made the choice to make this chapter, and the next one as well, slightly smaller, and then hopefully I'll be back to one episode per chapter going forward. But given how things are going so far…I am definitely not going to promise that!
Now then, before I go…some things to point out in this chapter and my reasons for them.
First off, no Old Lady…we've got more than enough adventurers with the other two parties, so the Old Lady is staying behind in New Rurorona to keep it safe. We'll still get the Hengen Muso techniques from Raphtalia and Rishia though.
Second, the interactions with Siltvelt…I debated for a while whether or not to include a small force from them as well to help with the alliance but decided against it at the end, leaving it to just a small interaction with some of their inhabitants that'll result in Fergus heading there one day.
Third, the letter from Ren. Try as I might, I couldn't find a good enough reason to keep Ren from getting into the same predicament as in the anime, sorry discount Kirito! But seeing as I'm making him slightly more redeemable in this story, I spun it so that he's going after Motoyasu and Itsuki to save their butts instead of futilely trying to kill the Tortoise. And I chose the letter route instead of Fergus hearing about it from the refugees to further prove that he's gotten better.
And finally, Fergus almost gives in to his anger. Yeah, no Shield of Wrath in this story! I meant it when I said that there's no way Fergus will ever want to use that Shield again. However, it doesn't mean it won't try and make its presence felt…and given this latest act of wilful stupidity from the other Heroes…it's hardly surprising that Fergus almost lost control again. Thankfully we have Raphtalia on hand to keep Fergus from giving in, she really is his rock that keeps him grounded.
Like I said at the top of the chapter, Chapter 5 is going to be delayed slightly since I'm going to be away from home from Friday evening until at least the following Monday evening, meaning there'll be 4 days where I won't be able to write anything. So what I'll do is take a break tomorrow, start writing what I can on Wednesday and Thursday, and then after my time away get right back into it. So yeah if the waiting time is slightly longer than two weeks…I've given you warning ahead of time. Until then, this is theoneandonlyedster signing out for now, and I will see you in the next one!
