Heroes of the Arks

ESKK: Well here we go chapter 19 so let's get this chapter started.

(Start Erhards Shop)

As Erhards shop Shiro, Taiyo, Jun, and their party members were gathered inside as a pair of guards were standing sentinel outside. After that fiasco had been dealt with and Melty had assured Jun she would not be facing charges for her confrontation with Malty they had come here since it was closest and they trusted Erhard.

"Hey kid, could you explain this to me?" Erhard asked as he looked to the group gathered in his shop.

"It's a long story." Shiro assured him as he looked to Erhard.

"Sorry we couldn't think of anywhere else closer." Raphtalia apologized as she looked over to Erhard.

"Oh boy." Erhard sighed hopping he wasn't becoming a part of some crazy conspiracy.

Once that was done Shiro decided to ask the question first. "So let's get to the point here ok, who are you exactly Mel?"

"I apologies for my late introduction, I am first in line to the throne of Melromarc, Second princess Melty Melromarc," Melty said as Erhard freak out to that as now he understand why the young group needed a private place to talk at as Filo said, "In line to the throne?"

"She'll be the next ruler, basically." Taiyo explained as he looked to the girl.

"But why is she ahead of her elder sister?" Ryuko asked as she was curious as to why on this regard.

"Yes wouldn't it make more sense for Malty to be first in line?" Raphtalia asked but it was Jun who got the ball rolling on that one.

"Well as you saw with how Malty reacted its clear as to why she's not first in line." Jun said as she had her arms crossed while leaning on the wall nearby.

With a nod Melty opted to pick up where Jun had left off. "Yes as you had clearly seen my sister's personality is the reason why she isn't immediate successor to the throne. As you have no doubt already seen my sister has been somewhat of a problem child and in turn my mother felt it best that I was made the heir apparent." Melty said as she looked to the group no doubt wanting a few words with Jun later for how she spoke to Malty before. Melty knew that even though Malty shouldn't have reacted as she did Jun didn't exactly help by instigating her like that. "Anyway back on subject, when I met you all I had no idea you were the Shield Hero, Sir Shiro." Melty said as Shiro stopped her there as he rather keep it informal for the time being.

"Just Shiro is fine miss I'd rather avoid formalities." Shiro said as Melty nodded to him seeing he wasn't one for such protocols.

"Of course Shiro, now as I was saying, now that I know that you are the Shield Hero this could be a perfect opportunity." Melty said as she looked to Shiro and his friends who heard what the first princess said.

"Opportunity?" Filo asked from Melty's left side as he looked to Melty.

"For what?" Ryuko asked from Melty's right side.

"Now hold your horses." Shiro cut Melty off as he looked to her who looked shocked.

"No offense you seem like a nice girl but so did Malty when I first met her and you can only guess what happened there." Shiro began cutting the Princess off as he looked to Malty. "But even more so I'd rather not take a risk with royalty unless my friends are all here and right now Tsubaki is unaccounted for." Shiro said as he looked to Melty knowing she may want to help but if Shiro was going to work with royalty he'd rather have it be a unanimous decision.

"Until all four of us are here I won't agree to any offers without their council." Shiro said as he'd rather not risk his own neck for another possible political trap to see him killed or worse. "The best time to speak with us is probably right before or after the next wave." Shiro offered and thus Melty saw Shiro relied on his friend's council to make such an important decision.

"Very well." Melty agreed as she knew those would be the most immediate situations when Shiro and his friends would all be gathered together.

Just then the door opened to the shop and from it one of Melty's guards was seen. "Princess Melty his royal majesty calls please come with us." Melty's guard said as he looked to the crown princess.

"Alright." Melty said as she then looked to Filo and Ryuko. "I have to go now Filo." Melty said as the Filolial nodded to the Princess before Melty looked to Ryuko. "It was very nice to meet you Ryuko." Melty said and thus proceeded to take her leave of the group.

Jun waited for a moment before looking to Shiro. "Don't worry." Jun said as she knew the guys were worried for her. "Now that I'm her bodyguard we have someone on the inside." Jun said before winking and walking off to catch up with Melty.

(Later with Jun)

As Jun walked with the guards accompanied by Pete and Demonicon she had that ever present glare on her face. No doubt she had a few of the Queens Royal Decrees on hand ready should Aultcray try something such as barring Shiro from getting a Class Upgrade. But she was advised against busting them out unless her hand was forced as some of those may not work a second time against the King. She heard the stories that Aultcray used to be some wise military leader but for Jun she saw that compliance, age, and rage had all taken his wisdom away. Be that as it may this may also open a bigger opportunity if another theory of hers proves to be factual.

After all if she played her card right no one would be able to tell her and Malty apart.

(Back over with Shiro)

Shiro was giving his party's stats a look over as he noted they had not had an alert of leveling up for a good amount of time. "Shiro why didn't you give her a chance to explain?" Raphtalia asked as she looked to Shiro.

"Because I don't trust the royalty and more then that I don't want to put myself and my friend in needless danger without their ok for it." Shiro said as he clearly tried to put his loved ones before himself.

"Filo want to go play?" Ryuko asked as she looked to Filo while holding a ball in her hand.

"Ok." Filo said and thus the two girls ran off to go play.

"Jeez." Taiyo said as he looked to Shiro a bit. "I get the feeling we're entering some sort of conspiracy." Taiyo said as he hated to be any Conspiracy nut who found out they were right about something.

(Meanwhile outside)

Ryuko and Filo were playing with the ball as they tossed it between each other. As they continued to do so they soon saw a group of Knights and magic casters approaching them much to their surprise on this. By the looks of it they counted about 3 Knights and two magic casters but then again their might be more lying in wait somewhere.

(Meanwhile back inside the shop)

"Excuse me, master!" Filo said as she pop her head in with Ryuko came in next as she said, "Papa, There are some people out here wanting to talk with you and uncle Shiro."

"Let them in," Shiro said as the two girls nodded and came in fully letting the group come forth as Shiro saw it was the young knight from before that stop the duel with friends it seems as Shiro said, "Hey, it's you from the market."

"I apologize for our sudden arrival," the young knight said as he and his friend came up as Shiro asked him, "It's fine, and sorry for running off from before, I thought you were trying to arrest me or something when you suddenly came at me before."

"Oh I'm sorry about that, I really wanted to talk to you about something," the young knight said as Shiro ask him, "Alright, ask about what?"

"We ah… I…" the young knight started to say but could not find the right words to say as he just blur it out as he said, "Please let us join you shield hero, during the wave!"

They all bow their heads to that with the Shiro and Taiyo sweat drop a bit as Taiyo whisper to Shiro, "Someone mister Popular now."

"Right I am a bit curious and confused about this," Shiro said to Taiyo as he didn't expect other people to come up to him and ask to join the fight as Shiro soon asked the young knight, "Can you tell me what brought this on?"

"We were deeply touch about your courage and selflessness when you fought in the last wave. Everyone here want nothing more than to support you in your tireless quest," the young knight said as Shiro said, "Is that why you were chasing for?"

"Yes we all decided that we should ask to fight side by side with you the next time we saw you here in the capital," the young knight said as Shiro said, "If this about fighting the waves, why now fight it yourselves?"

"No shield hero, the point is we want to fight together with you and your comrades," the young knight said as Taiyo asked, "Okay but why do you guys want too?"

A young male mage walk up as he said to them, "Because we all came from the village of Lute, back then you save all our families from a tragic end while also fighting many of those giant creatures as well."

Shiro remembers that well as he took on a small army of Gigas with his white armor soon cover in blood after that, he was surprise he lasted that long after draining his mana as the young mage went on saying, "So you see sir, we want to help you anyway we can."

"We want to repay you from saving our fellow villagers, that's all," the young knight said as Raphtalia was happy to hear that as it seem they were getting more help for the waves as Shiro held up a finger to tell them to give him a moment as he and Taiyo came together as Taiyo asked, "So what do you think? They are asking you mostly?"

"I know, but should I really have them join us when I wanted all of us here to make that choice?" Shiro said as Taiyo said, "Maybe but it wouldn't hurt to do something yourself once in a while and beside we're dealing with kids that look like they barely made it out of middle school, if they wish to do us harm, I bet they won't do as much to us."

Shiro nodded to that as that was true as him being the shield hero he can block any attack with ease, and he was the pactmaker to the white knight itself, as it may be the only land base knight but it was still pretty strong in its own rights, as he think of something and came up with an idea as he said, "Alright then, I think I'll give them a test then to see if they can prove themselves at least."

"Good idea," Taiyo said as both of them turn back around as the group of young adventures waited for Shiro's reply as he suddenly pulls a necklace out, no doubt hand crafted and enchanted by his own hands as he said, "Alright I'll give you a chance, but first you need to come up with at least 150 silver for this necklace."

That surprise the group as Shiro said to them, "IF you wish to join me then no doubt getting this trinket should be easy enough to do."

"Shiro," Raphtalia said as she was surprise that Shiro would do such a thing of buying Shiro leftover wears he made as another knight said, "But 150 silvers pieces?"

"Now what?" the young mage ask with the young knight said, "We'll just have to arrange it."

The young knight turns to Shiro and said to him, "We understand, we will gather the silver pieces now."

After that when the group left Raphtalia look at Shiro as she said, "I can't believe you were pressuring them to buy your leftover accessory for that much money."

"I'm a bit surprise about that too," Rino said as the Ryuko said, "That just mean to do."

"Yea meanie!" Filo said as Taiyo spoken up to defend Shiro as he said, "Hey he has a reason for it, I mean if they were serious of joining up with us they will no doubt will work hard to get it the silver pieces one way or another and prove that they can fight alongside us… right Shiro?"

"Pretty much, and I never said they have to buy it, they just have to gather 150 silver pieces to prove that they could work hard and get it done, even if it's not right away, they are doing it to show how dedicated they are of really joining us and if not then they aren't worth it, nothing more," Shiro said as Rino was surprise that the shield Hero would come up with an idea as it would make sense as dealing with the people in this kingdom as no doubt no many people would join the shield hero unless they would get something out of it easy, and if they can prove their worth it shows they can be trusted but if they don't and give up, it shows they were trying to take an easy way of things.

"Now let's get some stuff done, theirs is a reason why I pick this place other than to talk in private," Shiro said as soon enough Raphtalia was getting new gear with Shiro trading in his old iron sword for a new sword, as well upgrade his other gear too.

Not long after Raphtalia was given her new gear a look over Shiro placed his old armor on the table before Erhard. "Can you fix this stuff up also?" Shiro asked as he looked to Erhard.

"The made to order stuff." He said as he recognized his work anywhere. "Even if I throw in some freebee materials for ya it will still cost this much." Erhard said as he took out a few gold coins and bounced them in his hand with a grin on his face.

During this Shiro was wondering over something. "Hey Erhard if you don't mind me asking what are those stars next to Filo and Raphtalia level indicators mean?" Shiro asked as he looked to Erhard.

"Oh you guys are ready for class upgrades already." Erhard said as Shiro remembered that from a while back when he crossed paths with those bandits.

"Class upgrades?" Shiro asked as he repeated those words when that one bandit came to mind.

"It lets you increase your level cap only those recognized by the court have the option but since you are a hero it's possible." Erhard said and thus Shiro knew what he would be doing next. "When you're upgrading your class that's when you choose which path you wanna take and I had a hell of a lot of trouble deciding on mine." Erhard said as he had his arms crossed, eyes closed, and a smirk on his face.

"Don't worry Shiro your gear is in good hands." Taiyo said as he smiled to his friend know what he planned to do next.

(Later in town)

Shiro, Filo, and Raphtalia were currently all in town as they made their way on through. "Ok so it seems I need to get my upgrade at the Dragon Hourglass... oh joy." Shiro said as the last part was more with sarcasm. He then turned over to Raphtalia hoping to change the subject a bit to her. "So what kind of upgrade were you thinking about Raphtalia?" Shiro asked as he looked over to Raphtalia.

"I'm fine with whatever you decide I suppose." Raphtalia said as Shiro then sighed to this.

"Come on Raphtalia you need to make the choice yourself." Shiro said as he then walked ahead a bit. "After all if something happens to me I need to count on you to be the White Knight's Pactmaker in my place." Shiro said as she surprised Raphtalia with this information.

"Wait you mean you were serious back then!?" Raphtalia asked in shock over what Shiro was going to give her.

"Well it's going to either be you or Filo and you're the only sword user in the group." Shiro said as he looked to Raphtalia for a moment before heading to Filo who wanted a snack.

"Me... the White Knight's Pactmaker?" Raphtalia asked as she was surprised to hear this.

(Later that day at the Dragon Hourglass)

Shiro, Raphtalia, and Filo all stood before three nuns as they explained to him how much a Class Upgrade would cost. "15 Gold Pieces?!" Shiro asked in shock over hearing this.

"Yes sir, a Class Upgrade will cost 15 Gold Pieces per person." The Nun said as she looked at Shiro and his party.

"That's way too much." Raphtalia said as she looked to the nuns in shock.

'No kidding I can probably by a mansion with that kind of money around here.' Shiro thought to himself as he realized something amiss here. He then heard the girl made a slight snicker and thus it made Shiro go wide eyed to this. 'So that's how it is.' Shiro thought to himself as he glared at the woman a bit. 'No other choice but to play their game for the time being.' Shiro thought as he knew he was being swindled out of his money but in the Church of the Three Heroes these guys had the home field advantage in more ways than one. "Alright I guess I got no choice then, Raphtalia you'll be getting an upgrade first Filo you'll get yours at a later date." Shiro said as he began to produce the money for the nuns. Filo was surprised by this but when Shiro cut her off before she could complain she quieted herself. "15 Gold Pieces right?" Shiro asked as he walked up the steps with the money in hand.

The woman was surprised by this as she found the pouch of coins in her hands curtesy of Shiro. Just then another voice came up with an older nun came out from behind a pillar to say, "Our Apologies. We seem to have made a mistake."

Everyone turn to the nun as she went on saying, "We are forbidden from providing the upgrades to the shield hero's party."

"What, but they just said," Raphtalia began to say as then the nun pull out a royal decreed no doubt from the king as the nun said, "It's a direct order from his majesty."

Shiro growled a bit before looking around and saw a great number of Nuns gathers as he was reminded of cultists from some video games he used to play. At least until a new voice spoke up as it got everyone's attention. "Well a good thing I'm here then seeing as Melty had asked for myself and my party to get class upgrades of our own." Jun was heard and soon Jun and her party walked in much to the nuns shock. No doubt word that Jun and her party being Melty's bodyguards had swept around the town already.

"Her Majesty had been warned her husband may try something like this hence why I am here." Jun said as she then pulled out a decree marked and sighed by the Queen herself. "This decree states that the Church is to provide class upgrades to the hero's party." Jun said as she looked to the Nun in shock. "And seeing as Melromarch is a Matriarchy it's clear that the Queen's decree holds more power here." Jun said as she presented the decree. "You can even confirm is authenticity if you want." Jun said and thus the Nun knew she was beat here.

"Very well you may proceed." The Nun said as she backed off knowing Jun had her beat here.

But before it could begin Jun wasn't done just yet. "Also before I forget its clear you're trying to cover charge Shiro here for the Class Upgrade seeing as the price is 8 Gold Pieces not 15." Jun said as she glared at the Nuns who all saw Jun had did her homework. "So I would suggest returning about 7 of those Gold Pieces less I might have to inform the Queen of this incident." Jun said as she was pushing her luck here.

Seeing they were beaten the Nun nodded to the younger and thus she took the needed coins and returned the rest to Shiro. "Alright Raphtalia your up." Shiro said and thus Jun stepped in as she looked to Shiro.

"You start I need to borrow Shiro for a moment." Jun said as she looked over to Shiro.

(Later)

"We have a problem." Jun said as she and Shiro met in an isolated part of the Church as Raphtalia, Pete, and Demonicon got their Class Upgrades. "When I got to the castle I got to work and I found out a few things." Jun said as she looked to Shiro. "Those Mech Knights they're being mass produced in the castle and already we have Knights training on them, at the earliest they'll probably have a squadron ready before the wave." Jun said as Shiro was shocked by this information.

"One was bad but easy enough to deal with when Motoyasu used it, but a whole squad..." Shiro trailed off as the danger was real.

"Don't worry about it Shiro, I made sure they had hit some setbacks and are being sent back for repairs." Jun said calming Shiro's nerves on this. "But all that's been happening, monsters from White Knight Chronicle's, a Dogma Rift, Gigas, and finally Dogma Drives... it only leads to one culprit." Jun said to which Shiro knew who it was.

"Madoras." Shiro said and thus Jun nodded to this.

"Yeah we need to be ready for whatever he might have up his sleeve, hence why I went to the Queen herself for aid." Jun said as she looked to Shiro. "She's on our side and once she gets back she'll be cleaning house." Jun said as she looked to Shiro. "For now keep quiet of this information and stay on your guard." Jun said as she knew Shiro had to keep his head down from any unwanted eyes.

"Alright." Shiro said as he knew that he may need to go to different locations for the needed Class Upgrade in the near future if the Queen does not return to Melromarc soon.

Soon he got an alert that Raphtalia's class upgrade was done and thus looked to Jun who understood. "Go we'll meet again during the wave." Jun assured and thus with a nod Shiro took his leave of Jun to let her do what she came here to do. But Shiro he had one place he wanted to try before he started expanding his search parameters for a Class Upgrade in the future.

(Scene Break Beloukas Slave Tent)

Raphtalia now sporting her new class upgrade entered the slave tent with Shiro and Filo. Shiro had of course assured Filo he would not be selling her anytime soon. So once they entered Shiro quickly found a few key differences from the last time he was here. First and foremost was the fact there were less slaves then normal and second of all it was a lot quieter than last time he was here.

But of course Beloukas was there to which Shiro knew what to expect from the silver tongue slave merchant. "Well if it isn't sir hero back with us again." He began before making his way over to Shiro. "How can I help you?" He asked as he stood before the White Knight's Pactmaker.

"Well it looks like your business has been booming lately." Shiro said as he looked to the pudge short man. Shiro didn't like his trade but he had to swallow his pride back then but he was useful with the other parts of the trade.

"And it's all thanks to you and your cohorts if I may be so blunt." Beloukas said as he looked to the Shield Hero.

"Huh?" Shiro asked as he looked to the man with confusion.

"Yes you're travelling trade has been extremely profitable for me as well as you, thank you so much." He said a she tipped his hat to Shiro. "Plus not only that your Dragon toting friend and those two lovely young ladies have been regular visitors for me and as promised any child slave I happened upon I've put them aside and in turn those ladies take them to who knows where." Beloukas said as he then looked back up to Shiro. "Rumor has it that your bow wielding friend has a budding secret village known only to one noble to which she escorts these slaves among other things." The Slaver Owner said as Shiro knew the man was not done.

"What does that mean the first part of what you said?" Shiro asked as he was still hung up on that.

"Your little Filolial Queen and your friends Dragon Empress have both gained quiet the reputation. Nobles from every corner of Melromarc are contacting me to ask how can procure one for themselves, quiet extraordinary actually." Beloukas said as he looked to Filo who hid behind Shiro in fear. "And then there's you." He said gesturing to Raphtalia much to her surprise. "You helped my business gain a reputation for providing high quality slaves and the money just doesn't stop rolling in." Beloukas said as he looked Raphtalia who became his prized money maker without even being here. Getting back to subject her focused his attention back onto Shiro. "Anyway how may I help you today?" The man asked as he looked to Shiro. "So would you like another slave or perhaps you need some assistance with your Filolial experiment?" Beloukas asked as he looked to Shiro.

"I'm trying to find alternative means to a Class Upgrade I just came back from getting Raphtalia one and was nearly heckled for coins there." Shiro said as he looked to Beloukas. "Anything you can do to help with that?" Shiro asked as it was clear he wanted to get this class upgrade business sorted out.

"Class Upgrade?" Beloukas asked surprised to hear this.

"I already got one for Raphtalia but they almost heckled and refused to do it for us here." Shiro said as he gave a few cages a look over. "I know you had a slave that was well over level 40 so I figured you might have some information for that." Shiro said as he eventually found the Slave from before giving him a look over no doubt sensing the White Knight somehow.

It was clear Beloukas had to give Shiro the bad news in this regard. "Though it pains me to say it we don't provide that service here." Beloukas said and thus Shiro sighed knowing it was worth a shot at least.

"I see, I can't trust the one in this Country and you don't have an alternative for me." Shiro said as he was short on options now.

"No reason to despair however, you can still get it done without worry of trickery by simply applying at any other countries Dragon Hourglass." Beloukas said much to Shiro's surprise.

"You mean there are others?" Shiro asked as he heard this.

"Yes indeed, ordinarily I would charge for valuable information like this but since it is you whose asking and the fact I failed to provide information on your mysterious mask and armor before it was located I'll be happy to tell you for free." Beloukas said as he looked to Shiro.

Not to long after the group were around the table with a map of the continent before them. "If we're talking about favorable countries for you to upgrade your classes there's the mercenary nation Zeltobu whom I'm sure your Black Knight friend would be right at home at with her reputation." Beloukas said as he joked a bit. "And Demihuman countries Siltvelt and Shieldfreeden." Beloukas said explaining this information as Filo was nearby giving the eggs her and Ryuko shared a box with a look over. "I suggest Shieldfreeden, even though it's a country of demihumans its surprisingly welcoming to humans." Beloukas said as Shiro saw the map and knew it may be one of those journeys.

"So how long will it take to travel between here and Shieldfreeden?" Shiro asked as he already had a destination planned just needed to plan for it.

"By ship its two weeks and if you go by wagon it's the better part of a month." Beloukas said and thus Shiro knew that both options would not have him back in time for the Wave.

"With that distance going there now before the wave is not an option." Shiro said realizing he needed to think this through. "I'll need to improvise until then." Shiro said as Beloukas had an idea.

"Then might I suggest making due by equipping your Filolial Queen with a weapon?" Beloukas asked as he looked to Shiro. "I may have just the thing." He added and thus Shiro looked to the short chubby slave merchant.

"Huh a weapon just for me?" Filo asked when she heard about herself getting a weapon.

(Later)

Filo was soon in her Filolial form as she now had bladed armored talons on her feet. "Wyvern talons pretty slick huh?" Beloukas boasted as he smirked over to Shiro.

"What's a Wyvern?" Filo asked as she looked to Shiro in confusion.

"How much are they?" Shiro asked as he looked at the Slaver Merchant.

"In light of your continued patronage I'll offer you the exceptional once in a life time price of five gold pieces." Beloukas said as he had five fingers up for this.

"Make it four." Shiro said a she lowered one of the fingers. "And how about you throw in some reigns." Shiro added and thus Beloukas laughed and grin to this.

"It's a deal." The Slaver said and thus began to get all giddy about it. "You've grown into just the kind of man I really adore." He said while laughing a bit before running to get the reigns Shiro asked for. "You make my spine tingle." He said as Shiro looked to the man.

"Weirdo." Shiro said under his breath as he saw Beloukas run off.

"These things feel kind of weird." Filo said as she looked at her Wyvern Talons.

"You might take a little while to get used to them." Raphtalia said to which it made sense to them to which Shiro had an idea.

"Oh uh listen can we do some kind of test on these new talons?" Shiro asked as he looked to the slaver.

"I'm afraid all the monsters here are merchandise for sale." Beloukas said as he looked for the new reigns. That was of course until he was suddenly struck with an idea on where Shiro can give those Wyvern Talons a test drive. "Come to think of it." He began before turning over to the group. "I may have just the thing you're looking for." He said and thus Shiro knew what was coming.

(Later in the Sewers)

Shiro and his party had taken up the job request to deal with monster that were in the Sewers so to give Filo's new talons a test drive. The group had come down here in the first place because of Filo who needed training with her new weapons to get her adjusted to them. Currently Filo had a wing up over her face as she said, "Eww."

"I've never smelled anything this bad." Raphtalia said as Shiro had to somewhat agree with her.

"Welcome to the sewers ladies." Shiro said as he also had to admit that he hated the smell as well. "Now if what the slave merchant said is true there should be monsters around here." Shiro said as he looked for the monsters in question.

"What would monsters be doing in the capital's sewer system anyway?" Raphtalia asked as she was curious as to how they got down here to begin with.

"Well I got two theories." Shiro said as Raphtalia continued to shine the light from her magic. "The first being that some monster may have found a way into the kingdom sewer system from outside coming through there, or that people who had them as pets may have dumped some down here if they were getting too hard to control or too big, hard to say which one." Shiro said as he kept his eyes peeled for the monsters they were looking for.

Soon enough a creature from the waters came forth and to their surprise they monsters looked like a Purple skin Alligator. Shiro acted fast and switched to his venom shield and drew his sword for battle. "Is that what we're supposed to be fighting?" Filo asked as Shiro took a battle stance.

"Sure seems that way." Shiro said as he was ready for battle. In turn the monsters attacked as Shiro acted fast and slashed it with his sword causing it damage. Meanwhile Filo and Raphtalia jumped out of the way to avoid the beast as it came at them. Once that was done it charged again at Shiro again with its tail opting Shiro to block the attack.

"Raphtalia!" Shiro called out and thus the Demihuman girl sprang into action. She roared out and slashed the tail off with her sword causing it great pain and in turn it moved to attack the girl. But before it could land a play Filo came in with her Wyvern Talons and kicked the monster back sending it tumbling into the water in which Raphtalia stabbed at it with her sword to pin it down.

"You're finished!" Filo called out and used her talons to decapitate the monster killing it with ease and letting it splash into the sewer water.

Filo swung her sword to the side and admired her new sword. "It's amazing how sharp this is." Raphtalia said as she looked upon her sword.

"These talons are awesome!" Filo called out as she admired her new weapon with a smile on her face.

"Hey." Shiro was heard and thus the group looked and saw Shiro was covered in sewer water thanks to the battle. "I need a shower after this." Shiro said and thus it was clear he was not one to enjoy what had happened.

(Scene Break that Night the Inn)

Soon enough after the sewer monsters were taken care Shiro and his part quickly went to an Inn and washed up quickly so they can get rid of the sewer smell. Currently Shiro was helping Raphtalia out as he poured out the bottle of the pure holy water into a bowl, where he then let the bandages soak it up before applying it to Raphtalia's curse burns. On the next bed over Filo was sound asleep as Shiro went about Raphtalia's treatment. As Shiro applied the Holy Water soaked bandages he was surprised to see black smoke come out of the burns. Raphtalia in response hissed in pain as she felt the application of the Holy Water on her burns. "Are you ok?" Shiro asked with concern that he was harming her unintentionally.

"Yes it's actually not so bad since the part you bandaged heal really fast." Raphtalia said as she looked to Shiro showing she was ok and the pain she felt was basic pain from healing.

Shiro smiled to this and thus saw the timer at the corner of his vision. "We got 10 days until the wave hits and seeing as we won't know where it will hit we need to be ready for whatever may come around." Shiro said as he kept working on Raphtalia. "Plus since we need to consider casualties in a town or village we're going to need a lot of medicine stalked up for those afflicted by the Wave." Shiro said as he knew well enough they had to be ready for what came next.

"Hopefully Jun and Tsubaki were able to do scouting for possible combat zones or at least got a map for it." Shiro said as he was also focused on healing Raphtalia who then grew silent to this.

"Shiro..." She began thus got Shiro's attention.

"What's wrong?" Shiro asked as he saw the look on her face.

"Shiro... you said if something happened to you, you plan to give me the White Knight." Raphtalia said as she looked to Shiro.

"Of course, its power is great and can even warp a man beyond recognition if not careful." Shiro said as he continued on with Raphtalia's treatment. "You're the only one I can trust to use it and not succumb to its power while also respecting it." Shiro said as he knew the White Knight's power was great and knew it had new secrets thanks to Jun and Taiyo's Dogma Drives. "I know it's not likely to happen but there may even come a time that it will warp me beyond recognition and I just want to be ready in case it happens." Shiro said as he tried to plan ahead for every possible causality.

Once Shiro had finished applying the bandages to Raphtalia he then sighed a bit to himself and then looked over to the Demihuman. "Raphtalia just promise me if something happens that you'll keep the White Knights power safe." Shiro said and thus Raphtalia nodded to him.

"I promise." Raphtalia said even if she didn't want to consider such a possibility.

"Good... now get to bed we have an early start tomorrow." Shiro said and thus Raphtalia nodded and got ready for bed.

(Begin Montage)

That same night as Filo and Raphtalia slept Shiro continued working on the accessories he was making for the two girls. He also glanced over at them making sure they were asleep, Filo because she was a growing girl and Raphtalia because she was still healing.

The following morning they set out with their wagon filled with goods to sell. They got word that stuff was going on over in the Northern Kingdom and thus opted to go check it out. Jun would remain at the capital to keep an eye on Melty as well as gather enemy intelligence for them as Melty's bodyguard until the Wave hits where she will go and join Shiro to fight it off.

It was a long journey for them as they were heading up North to any towns they may come across that could be possible costumers. While on their journey they made a few brief stops along the way to relieve themselves or grab a quick snack. One of those stops included an outpost type spot where a wall was. Shiro had asked for directions and in turn was told of a village up North there. Thus the group continued down the Northern Path with promise of fortune and business so they can have money to feed themselves.

(End Montage)

Eventually their journey began to dye down as the sun began to set. They had arrived at a village with a wall around the land and a Knight standing guard outside of it. James gave him his Merchant Pass yet he still demanded they pay tolls. Raphtalia was about to argue but James knew something was up and this guy wasn't doing it out of malicious intent. Thus he opted to pay the Toll of 9 Silver Pieces one per person rounding up to a total of 27 Silver Pieces each. They had gotten a look at the village from outside and knew it looked troubling. So as the guard opened the path for them Shiro opted to see if he was ok.

"Hey are you ok?" Shiro asked getting the Knights attention. "Just seems you have things going rough for you." Shiro said as he wanted to see if this guy was ok.

"Yeah it's ok." The Knight said and thus James knew what they may see would not put a good image in their minds.

(Later that day in the village)

The Sun was beginning to set and the White Knights Pactmaker and his party were going through the village. As they traveled on through they saw that from the looks of it the place was in deep poverty. "What a sad looking town." Filo said as they continued to walk.

"Whoever is in charge has to be a complete scumbag." Shiro said as he saw the sorry state of this town. "That toll told the whole story." Shiro added as he knew whoever was in charge needs to get their act together.

"If this town was to be attacked in the next wave." Raphtalia trailed off as Shiro already knew what would happen. Knights or no Knights this town would not survive the battle and thus all Shiro could do was hope the next wave was somewhere else.

(Scene Break Further North the Following Days)

Eventually Shiro and his party arrived at what looked to be the ruins of a village and this one had people in it. Seeing them Shiro was then met with the site of the people who were clearly desperate and quite hungry in fact. Some of them were off to the buildings for shelter as Shiro saw the sight of a young magic caster with a stave, baggy pants and what looked like a hooded robe/jacket.

"Look!" One of the Villagers called out and thus Shiro saw his wagon get approached by the villagers who had nothing but random junk to offer.

"Please sir, I'll give you this for something to eat." A man said as he was all skin and bones while offering to Shiro a wooden idle of sorts.

Shiro was left speechless at how bad the poverty here was and how desperate these people looked. At least until a familiar voice called out and from it filled Shiro with some hope. "Sir Shiro?" Conan called out and thus Shiro and Raphtalia looked and saw the Wolf Demi-Human approaching with new equipment just like Raphtalia had.

"Conan? If your here then where is Tsubaki?" Shiro asked as he looked for his friend.

"She's the one who helped transport us, she left to find us food but we are desperate and she tries to bring as much as she could." The man said as he looked to Shiro. "She has been making regular trips between Melromarc and the North to transport us Refugees to salvation but the toll it takes we fear for her." The man said and thus before Shiro could answer movement was heard and from above the Moon Maiden descended carrying what looked to be large game.

It appeared it was all she could find as judging by the state of things many animals had fled to greener pastors. "Tsubaki?" Shiro asked and hearing her name the Moon Maiden looked and saw Shiro.

"Shiro." Tsubaki said before she reverted to her human form and revealed her new form. She was now sporting a hooded vest with a long sleeved shirt under it that seemed perfect for an archer. Her waist had a small tail cloth on it as her leggings ended at a pair of metal boots. Her gauntlets had three fingers covered which was ideal for any archer so to better use their bow and arrow. Over Tsubaki's left shoulder was, what appeared to be a small cape possibly for aesthetic like the tail cloth was on her right hip.

"Tsubaki/Lady Tsubaki." Conan and Ail called out and met with Tsubaki.

"Sorry you caught me like this Shiro." Tsubaki said as she handed the game over to Conan and Ail to handle.

"Yeah I can see that." Shiro said as he looked to Tsubaki. "What happened to this place?" Shiro asked as he looked to Tsubaki in shock.

"Well These people tell that an Adventurer was apparently sent from Melromarc to put together a resistance force and begin a revolution. As you can see things didn't turn out as they had hoped." Tsubaki said as it was clear she was trying to save these people as best she could.

"Do you have any idea what this Adventurer was like?" Shiro asked as he spoke to Tsubaki.

"Long story short he had a bow." Tsubaki said and thus it didn't take long for Shiro to pierce it together.

"Itsuki." Shiro growled as while what Ren and Motoyasu did was stupid what Itsuki did was beyond that. At least with the first two Shiro was able to fix it but this... he can't fix with what he has available.

Just then the infant in its mother's arms began to cry out with hunger and thus it was clear to Shiro what needs to be done. "I have a home I've had built but at this point it's becoming more of a village with each trip I make to the Slaver and to the Norther Kingdom." Tsubaki said showing she was becoming the Shepard who brought these people to salvation. Thus Shiro knew what he needed to do and that was to help get these people to a place they can start over.

"Raphtalia business is cancelled we need to set up an emergency kitchen." Shiro said and thus Raphtalia understood.

"Right." She said and thus got to work happy to be helping people free of charge.

(Scene Break Later that Day)

Shiro with Raphtalia and Conan worked together with the soup kitchen to help get these people their strength up for the rest of the journey. Nearby Tsubaki and Ail both had a small set up for an on sight clinic to handle anyone who needed immediate medical attention by them. It wasn't perfect but it would suffice to hopefully help these people make it the rest of the way. During this Tsubaki had given Shiro an update on things and introduced them to Ail her party's magic caster. All the while Shiro had wondered what had caused this to begin with and at some point he got his answer and needless to say he was livid.

Later during the day Shiro himself was exploring the ruins around, as many building were empty, everything that was in them were taken no doubt sold off to pay off tax and pay for much food they can get which wasn't much it seems. But just then Shiro saw something on the ground as she went down to it, picking it up as she saw it was a small harp of sort now left abandon as for some reason. This only further fueled his anger at the suffering these people were forced to endure as his grip on the harp began to tighten while holding back his emotions on this.

When Shiro had first heard the story of what happen, the so call rebels that Itsuki had joined were nothing but thugs, and he just wanted to find them and take them down. He wanted to slaughter them not caring who they were or thought they were and he hated himself for having such thoughts. But seeing this seeing how these people suffered just gave Shiro the taste of bile in his mouth and a horrible feeling in his stomach. Shiro could only hope that the Queen returns soon so she can help stop this madness once and for all so they can do what is right for the people by helping them.

(Scene Break Melromarc the Day before the Wave)

Shiro and his party had returned to the capital as they now had Tsubaki and her party by their side. Shiro was told how Tsubaki met Ail and thus he understood his loss and was glad he found Tsubaki to keep him from a dark path. Shiro had even joked that it seems their group of friends were in a harem situation with Tsubaki and Jun in a reverse harem if they added one more guy to their parties. This got a laugh for Shiro but a slap from Tsubaki to Shiro's arm at his attempt at a joke.

In the Capital the group was repairing, restocking, and gearing up for combat as in a day or so the wave will come again and they needed to be ready for what was to come. "Ok guys the wave is going to hit in less than 27 hours." Shiro said as he saw the info from his Statues screen.

"We got all out bases covered, We got all our gear prepared and ready, arrows and swords made, and plenty of first aid supplies." Tsubaki said as she marked off what they needed from her list.

"Can we get something to eat?" Filo asked as she looked and smiled to Shiro.

"Sure we need to meet up with the others anyway so let's grab lunch." Shiro said hoping Jun found time for them to meet.

(Scene Break later at a Pub)

Shiro and Tsubaki with their parties arrived to find Taiyo and Jun waiting for them. They had of course in response went over and did the whole meet and greet of Ail to their growing circle of friends. Ail was most grateful for Tsubaki helping him in his time of need and luckily was already on good terms with Taiyo, Rino, and Ryuko.

Inside at a table Ren and Itsuki are seen, talking to each other about certain weird things that been going on, with the Four Parties quickly noticing the two as Raphtalia pointed them our saying, "Isn't that?"

"Ren and Itsuki yeah." Jun said as she glared at them as Tsubaki also glared at Itsuki.

Meanwhile Ren and Itsuki had yet to notice Shiro and his group before Itsuki began to speak. "I overthrew this despot in a country to the North but you know what happened after that?" Itsuki began as he and Ren spoke of recent events that hadn't gone right for them. "When I went to the Guild to pick up the Reward they had already paid it out to somebody else." Itsuki said as it was clear he didn't realize what really happened.

"Same here I lost a job request from some guy out of the blue." Ren said unaware the request was to the same Village he brought a plague upon.

"Looks like somebody is going around pretending to be us." Itsuki said as he had a few theories as to who these imposters were.

Just then as the gathered four parties were ordering their food in the background one of Itsuki's party members approached the table. "Itsuki." Came one of Itsuki's party members. "We just received another guild request to overthrow a town Lord to the North. What do you want to do with this?" She asked as Itsuki was unaware it was the same town whom he 'saved,' before.

"From the guild?" Itsuki asked as he was confused by this.

"Yes, from what I can tell it seems that the local Lord has heavily taxing the Citizens way beyond the courts set limits and he's using that revenue in a vicious campaign suppress decenters of any kind and to hire mercenaries." The woman said as the group overheard what was being spoke of.

"I met some of them already they tried to stop me from transporting the refugees out of the North." Tsubaki said as she was clearly still hung up on that and for good reason just as their food arrived.

"Ok here's your food." The server said smiling at the group as their food was served.

"That looks yummy time to dig in." Filo said as she was ready to eat.

"Ryuko." Rino said as she caught Ryuko moving the greens from her food. "You need to eat your greens too." Rino said as she worried for Ryuko's health.

"But Rino..." Ryuko wined as she hated eating her greens while everyone else began to eat.

"Heh kids am I right?" Demonicon asked as he elbowed Taiyo a bit while looking to him,

"Hey kids can also be rewarding as well." Taiyo defended but agreed with him as even he needed time away from Ryuko every now and again. "Besides she started breathing fire so... watch out." Taiyo added as he knew Ryuko was still working on that quark.

Back with Itsuki's table Itsuki had gotten the story of this. "Interesting." Itsuki said unaware that the Pactmakers and their parties all heard every word he was speaking. "They need to be taught that with great power comes great responsibility." Itsuki said but in turn Tsubaki heard him as did the others.

In response Tsubaki slammed her hands on the table and thus caused it to shake and nearly knocked the food over. This in turn got everyone's attention with how loud she was as even Taiyo knew to steer clear when Tsubaki was angry. Tsubaki then calmed herself and thus Shiro then looked to Tsubaki with concern. "Are you ok Tsubaki?" Shiro asked as Tsubaki growled a bit.

"I'll try but." Tsubaki said and thus it seems fate stood against them.

"What seems to be the problem?" Itsuki was heard and thus everyone knew that they were in minefield now.

"I don't know depends on who's asking." Tsubaki said as she calmly ate her food. "Because three utter failures passing themselves off as heroes really is ruining my meal a bit." Tsubaki said as she was aware of what Motoyasu and Ren did with the super seed and dragon corpse respectively.

In turn Itsuki began to put the pieces together as he looked to Tsubaki and Jun. It made sense in a way Jun was an avid sword wielder and mercenary while Tsubaki was an archer of renowned skill. With this in mine it wasn't outside the realm of reason that the two could easily pass themselves off as either of them. "It's you huh you're the one that's been impersonating us stealing our jobs and taking our rewards." Itsuki accused and thus Jun scoffed to this.

"Stealing your jobs? Hah! More like cleaning up your messes and being paid to do it." Jun said as she glared at Ren as Tsubaki glared at Itsuki.

"You have a lot of nerve trying to take the high ground after all the shit you've done and from what I heard I had actually thought what Motoyasu and Ren did were the worst of it turns out I was wrong." Tsubaki said as she glared at Itsuki. "At least the messes they caused could be repaired yours on the other hand." Tsubaki said but stopped herself knowing she had to focus on keeping her village safe.

"What are you talking about?" Itsuki asked clearly unaware of the damage his actions have caused.

"So you seriously have no idea what happened to that Kingdom after you ousted its King?" Shiro asked as he glared at Itsuki as he began to tell him exactly what he saw there.

(Flashback)

As the Shiro was giving food to the refugees he gave a bowl to a man as Tsubaki had ensured that everyone was healthy as they could be despite conditions. "Is this everyone from your village?" Shiro asked with concern for these people.

"Yes." He began as he confirmed what had happened. "Everybody else was killed before the Lunar Huntress could save them." The man spoke as the White Knight's Pactmaker's party had seen the graves as the result. "After the revolutions our lives did get a little better but not for long." The man spoke as he told of what happened back at his fallen home. "The resistance started hiking up the taxes just like the Lord had done before." The man said and thus Shiro was not happy about this.

"But why would they do that?" Shiro asked as she was worried about the response.

"I don't know too much about it but apparently it takes an awful lot of money to run a country." The man said and thus not given the time to think on it and have food in him he started to notice startling patterns. "Now that I think of it maybe the previous King had the exact same thing in mind." The man said and thus Shiro began to put two and two together.

"It got to the point that they even tried to stop us from leaving when they learned what your friend was doing... she couldn't save all of us." He said and thus it was clear Tsubaki had seen some things she wanted to forget.

(End flashback)

"All you did there was switch out the good ruler who was simply running his Kingdom for tyrant. Nothing go solved in the end you moron!" Tsubaki yelled as she glared at Itsuki. "If it wasn't for me his..." Tsubaki began but cut herself off knowing if she told Itsuki the Kings heir was alive there was no telling what he would do.

Thankfully Itsuki didn't notice and thus went on for his rant. "Stop trying to change the subject we're talking about you guys impersonating." Itsuki began only for Tsubaki to surprise both herself and Itsuki when she grabbed him by the collar of his shirt and pinned him to the wall.

"I'm not changing the subject YOU are just so you don't have to acknowledge your damn mistakes!" Tsubaki yelled as she glared at Itsuki. "You know I've been traveling around and lately I've noticed a few things and found information about the Cardinal Weapons and apparently its possible for someone to interfere with the summoning for them, Motoyasu learned this but he didn't want to believe it especially from the bastard who interfered." Tsubaki said as she glared at Itsuki as everyone saw Tsubaki was about to drop the bomb here.

"What are you saying?" Itsuki asked and thus Tsubaki got to the dive bomb.

"Here is the truth you, Ren, and Motoyasu none of you are the actual intended Cardinal Heroes your just idiots a faction had used to cause damages for them." Tsubaki snapped as she glared at Itsuki.

"No you're lying." Itsuki defended refusing to believe Tsubaki's words.

In her rage she then threw Itsuki to the ground much to everyone's shock. "Itsuki!" His party member cried out but Tsubaki wasn't done.

"Fine don't believe me you're doing exactly as Madoras wants you to do." Tsubaki said as she glared at Itsuki. "If you don't believe me then you can ask Motoyasu about it, he might deny it but he'll confirm what I said." Tsubaki said as Itsuki was about to strike back only for Ren to stop him.

"How do you explain my case?" Ren asked the group and in turn Jun looked to him knowing what he meant.

"Let me take a gander, you had a request that was cancelled about a disease correct?" Jun asked as she looked to Ren with a glare of contempt.

"If you all know then that makes this easier, so why did you steal that job?" Ren asked but Jun had a counter for this idiot.

"Because that dragon you killed since you refused to clean up the mess its rotting corpse caused an epidemic that nearly wiped out the village." Jun said as she glared at Ren. "I was there for another job and had to step in to get rid of it with Shiro's help when he showed up and thanks to you failing to clean up its remains the left over prana crystalized to give the Dragon new life as a Dragon Zombie that nearly caused us all of our lives!" Jun yelled as she glared at Ren. "We stepped in and killed it before cleaning it up, that's why the job was cancelled Ren." Jun scolded as Ren went wide eyed to this as she glared at Ren. "It was a case of being at the right place at the right time." Jun added and thus Ren was left in shock over this.

"No way." Ren said as he remembered just leaving the corpse there expecting it to vanish like most monsters did in his VRMMORPG.

"It's true and if you think we're lying go there and look for yourself." Jun said she glared at Ren. "Just don't expect a warm welcome when you arrive and do be on the lookout for torches and pitchforks." Jun said as she knew well enough that after Ren basically started a plague he wasn't going to be the most well liked guy by those people.

"Do either of you have the faintest of clues how many peopled because of your stupidity and negligence?!" Shiro scolded as he glared at the two in question here.

"Because of what I did?" Ren asked and thus Shiro stood up and stood with Tsubaki on this.

"I hope you two are oh so proud of yourselves you'd rather look like heroes in some comic book or TV show where everything turns out right in the end not realizing this is reality with real problems that have real consequences." Shiro said as he glared at Ren and Itsuki honestly wanting to ring Itsuki's neck for what he did.

Raphtalia stood up and began to calm Shiro down which allowed Ren to see the burns on the girl's body. "I see... I'm sorry." Ren said accepting the truth as is.

"You mean you believe them?!" Itsuki asked shocked to hear this.

"Why shouldn't I they don't have any reasons to lie." Ren said as he stood there calmly. "I can believe them on what we did but I don't believe them when they say we're not the actual cardinal heroes." Ren said as he'll accept responsibility for his actions but he won't accept such an obvious lie on his selection as the Sword Hero.

"Fine believe whatever you want just know this, soon enough the Cardinal Weapons will find their intended Heroes and jump over to them first chance they get." Jun said as she glared at Itsuki and Ren in pure contempt.

After a moment it was Shiro who calmed down and began to lead the group out. "Come on guy's time to go." Shiro said and thus he went to the door with the others but before they could leave Itsuki continued his argument against them. "I still don't believe you!" Itsuki defended and thus Tsubaki glared at him.

"Then enjoy the delusion for however long it will last... I promise you that it will break soon." Tsubaki said and thus she took her leave with the others as she was going to get her bow back if for no other reason than to stop Itsuki's reign of terror once and for all.

(Scene Break that afternoon outside Erhard's shop)

The group, now as one party again, got back to Erhard's shop and were outside as James was giving himself a look over. Taiyo smirked at his handiwork as he and Erhard shared a knuckle bump with each other. Shiro was currently donned in his new armor as it now had a sleeker and purer form. The cloth between it was still green but now his armor was a brighter silver almost a pure white color. It had azure blue secondary with gold accents to it to which Shiro noted that now all of his friends gear matched up to their Knights in certain ways such as coloring and themes. Shiro noted the shoulder armors were a bit larger but not enough to get in the way as it seems it was part of another piece of his outfit.

"Taiyo and I embedded that Dragon Zombie Core into your chest plate and even gave it an auto repair function." Erhard said as Shiro saw the core in question. "This armor is probably my best work and for Taiyo should get him on his way to becoming an amazing Blacksmith." Erhard said as he smiled at what Taiyo had accomplished.

"Ah shucks." Taiyo laughed a bit over the praise being given to him.

"Honestly you look like a King of Knights." Tsubaki said as she looked to Shiro.

"I agree." Ail said as then it hit Rino.

"Wait what if that is the case." Rino said and thus she put it all together. "Tsubaki looks like she could be the queen of the forest, Fae and Fairies." Rino began as she pointed at Tsubaki. "Jun looks like she could pass as the Mercenary Dark Phoenix Queen." Rino continued as she pointed at Jun. "Taiyo looks like he should be among Dragons as their leader or overlord as he's been called." Rino said gesturing to Taiyo. "And finally sir Shiro could easily pass as the King of Knights." She finished as she went over to Shiro on this one.

"Bitch she's right." Jun said as she looked at herself and her friend in shock as it wasn't like Kuro made it less obvious.

"Pardon us." Came the voice of the Young Knight as the Avengers looked and saw the group arrive. "Oh thank goodness your here I thought we missed you." The Young Knight said as he looked to Shiro with hope before pulling out a large sack of silver coins. "We went around all over town and somehow managed to scrape up 150 Silver Pieces for you." the young Knight said as he looked to Shiro and his party as Jun and Tsubaki were impressed and confused.

"That kind of demand?" Jun asked as she smirked to Shiro. "Sounds like something I'd do." Jun said with a smirk on her face.

"What demand?" Tsubaki asked unaware of what Shiro did.

"It's a long story. Taiyo said with promise to explain later with Shiro.

Shiro then walked over to the group and gave them the trinket but instead of taking the money he simply left it in the young Knights hand. "Go on use that money to get yourselves better equipment." Shiro said much to the young Knights shock.

His shock then turned to a smile as he looked to Shiro. "You mean you'll accept us?!" He asked shocked to hear this.

"I can't have you guys dying on me out there." Shiro said as he was putting his new teammate's needs first.

"Thank you very much." The young Knight said as Shiro added them to his already large party.

"Word of warning though." Shiro said as he gave them a stern glare. "I'm putting my trust in you guys so betray us, jerk us around, or exploit us and you're going to end up regretting it." Shiro said as his glare promised retribution if that became the case.

"Of course thanks for having us." The group said as they understood Shiro's warning but had no intention of back stabbing him from what Jun could see.

Thus in turn Filo an over to them to the group with a smile on her face. "Master now we have so many more friends." Filo said with a smile on her face to this.

"More playmates!" Ryuko called out as she joined with Filo on this.

But for Shiro it was time to get down to business. "Now we got less than 24 hours before the Wave hits so let's have a strategy meeting." Shiro said taking charge as they had work to do.

"Right/Ok!" The group of new allies and both Ryuko and Filo all said together.

"You know my shop isn't exactly your meeting room." Erhard said as he looked to Shiro and his friends as they lead their new allies into the shop.

"Just roll with is." Jun said as she passed by Erhard with Kuro perched on her shoulder.

(Meanwhile in Faubley that night)

"Melty appears to have made contact with the Shield Hero and his party your majesty." The Shadow said as she kneeled outside the window.

"If the Shield Hero is the kind of man I hear he is then he may very well be the only true hope our Kingdom has." The Queen said as she knew well enough that someone interfered with the summoning and whoever he is clearly will come with ill intent. "I feel bad for putting Melty through all of this caught in a tangled web of conspiracies and deception but this too is her duty as the future ruler." The Queen said showing she would do whatever it takes for her family and her people.

"You're Majesty?" The Shadow asked with concern in her voice.

"Continue to keep an eye on them." The Queen said with closed eyes showing she knew what was to come.

"I you wish." The Shadow said before she left the Queen by herself.

The Queen then held her heart as she felt a chill in her heart. "The Wave is nearly here, will the heroes be able to overcome it... and will they be able to put aside their differences for the common good?" She wondered as she knew for any hope of ending the Waves the Heroes must reclaim their weapons and stand united against one common enemy because only when the Four Heroes are united will they find salvation for their world.

Unaware to anyone of this world evil moves in the shadows as the Queen's words may hold truth. Because if the Knights power unites with the Cardinal Weapons then there may in fact be a way to defeat this supposed yet unknown Dark God called Emperor Madoras once and for all. Right now regardless if they know this or not the hope of this world rests on the shoulders shared of Shiro, Taiyo, Tsubaki, and Jun.

(TBC)

ESKK: Well here we are the new chapter just remember to leave a review before leaving and as always ja-ne.