Chapter 4: Does the early bird get the worm?
As soon as the sun rose over the castle town, Naofumi immediately rushed into the forest to level up. When Sakura hatched from her egg. She was Level 2 when she hatched and was very energetic for a newborn. Of course, at this level, she was very vulnerable to any attacks, but being the shield hero he was careful about which monsters he would fight.
"Alright Sakura, kill this one!"
"Piyo!" Sakura jumps on top of the balloon and perches on its head. Much to the annoyance of Naofumi. The attack that he was expecting to immediately pop the balloon was a dud. Sakura continued trying to kill it, and in about two minutes' time the balloon pops. These results brought a smile to Naofumi's face as the speed Sakura took to kill it was significantly faster than his.
"If she was able to speed up the process of killing a balloon that fasts at level two, Just imagine what she'll be like when she is fully grown, Maybe I have a chance to…. HEY!, Don't eat that you'll choke!" Naofumi says while picking up Sakura, she was trying to swallow the balloon she just killed.
"Pio Pilo."
"You can't just try to eat everything you see, especially since balloon rubber isn't edible."
"Piopio, piiilo."
"That was our first fight and you just hatched, may I also remind you that you killed this thing in like, five seconds, so it's impossible for you to be out of energy.
"Piiilo!" Sakura chirped furiously."
"Don't chirp at me in that tone, I'm not the one who's starving!" Naofumi yelled as he grabs another balloon on his back. "We'll finish fighting the monsters in this area then we'll stop for breakfast, does that sound good"
"Pio." Sakura chipped happily.
"Great, now I have to worry about food for two. What has my life delved into." Naofumi rips off another balloon after his back and holds it down to attack. 'Why am I arguing with a bird? How am I losing an argument to a bird? Maybe I am going insane.'
Walking back into the castle town. Naofumi carries a stack of balloon rubber and herbs he gathered with the leaf shield, so he can sell them later for a pretty good profit. Even though it was night, Naofumi still got some of the same looks as always does from a few citizens that were still awake, but he simply ignores them and headed back towards the inn.
Inside the public kitchen, he finds someone else leftover meat in a cooler and uses that for Sakura's meal. He even grabbed a few vegetables he also found in the cooler, so he can eat himself, and left some coppers on the table to pay for the ingredients.
Passing Sakura a bowl of small meats, she tore into the meal finishing in under a minute and begged for more forcing Naofumi to give her some of his meal to satisfy her hunger. It didn't do much since every time she finished she could be hungrier somehow.
"It hasn't even been an hour yet and I'm exhausted. Naofumi looks over to Sakura who's fast asleep in the bowl she just ate from. Carrying her in the bowl she's lying in. Naofumi enters the room and blocks all the doors, soon collapsing on the bed. "Now I know why people complain about parenting," Naofumi asked as he slowly dozed off.
Later in the afternoon. Naofumi took all his monster scraps from yesterday and sold them to the vendor without much of a scene happening this time. Now with his coppers, he stopped by another stand to buy some proper bird food for Sakura. Since he's not 100% sure if a Filolial is an omnivore or not. He's keeping an eye out if the food had any undesirable effects on her.
Getting the food, Naofumi heads back to the inn to feed Sakura and then falls back to sleep before going back into the Forest in the evening. Aside from taking a few breaks to feed Sakura and gather more herbs, He spent the rest of his time killing every balloon he came across, getting him to level 6, and Sakura to 4. He even came across and killed another monster called a mush, but it took a bit longer to kill it due to their low levels, so he decided to leave them be at the time until a later time, focusing on the balloons in the area.
Terrorizing the local balloon population for another evening. Naofumi returns back to the castle town to feed Sakura again before heading to the pub for a quick meal. Feels exhausted as he sits, he thinks of everything he did to get to this point, and how he barely made any progress since his betrayal, only making him angrier as he eats.
'Sakura is still too young to make any real progress, and even though I'm moving slightly faster than usual, the difference is still too little to call it progress. Perhaps I should attempt to find some extra help to be ready before the wave hits. But since I don't even know when or what is happening, is gonna make finding help at the correct time difficult. DAMN IT!'
Naofumi slams his hand on the table, making some plates shake as he does before he continues eating.
'Five days and the entire country is already on my ass for bullshit. Especially that bitch. She was definitely planning this from the start, which is probably the reason why she tried to spend all my money beforehand, God damn it why do I have to be such an idiot It was so obvious!' Naofumi turns his head as Sakura tries to comfort him.
'Did she sense my anger, or is she just hungry'
"No, Sakura you can't have my food."
"Pio Pio." Sakura chirped as she shook her head, bouncing around to divert Naofumi's attention.
"What?" Naofumi turns his head to a couple of people behind him.
'Oh great, who are these people who are these people? I swear if it's more idiots from Siltvelt, I'll find the place and burn it to the ground myself.'
Naofumi turns his chair around to face the men while preparing to open his cloak in secret.
"No, I don't have spare change. No, I'm not trying to buy anything. And no, the bird is not for sale."
"Don't worry shield, we're just here to ask you to let us join you."
"Oh that, alright then, follow me. I'll take you to the headquarters then." Naofumi heads out the door and into an alley with his new "companions" to conduct a better deal and possible tussle. He didn't want to attempt a fight in the street since the guard will most likely join these people if they do attempt to attack him.
"Now If you plan on joining the party you can start by buying my bird a meal. She likes the high-quality meat and it's kind of expensive for me alone."
Naofumi takes out three blank sheets of paper and hands them to the 3 dudes who followed him.
"Also, I'm going to need you three to fill out the applications with the following information. Name, age, criminal records, credit card numbers-."
"Hold on, the hell's a credit card!?"
"He's obviously figured us out already you idiot. " The man rips up the sheet of paper Naofumi gave him and draws his dagger.
"Alright, enough bullshit from both sides, hand over all your money sir "hero", and we'll be taking that Filolial of yours too. We're gonna have a lovely chicken dinner with that bird of your-. He was saying before getting a balloon shoved into his face.
The other bandit tries to attack but is immediately blown back as soon as his knife makes contact with the shield. The bandit gets back up to help his pal, only to find his dagger broken. Having been beaten by the shield so quickly and without much effort, he decided to leave before anything else happens, quickly grabbing his friend with the balloon still biting down on his arm.
"I don't know what their plan was about. But attacking a person who specialized in defense wasn't the best idea, And these balloons really came in handy for situations like this,"
"Pio pio pio!"
"Why are you going on abo-, Woah!?" Turning to Sakura on his shoulder, Naofumi narrowly dodges an ax about to chop his head off.
Sakura jumps on the man's shoulder and pecks him in the eye, making the bandit cry out in pain and trip on some trash left on the street.
"Almost forgot about you, mind holding these for me." Naofumi drops a couple of balloons on the bandit's face that all proceeds to maul him all over.
Ignoring the screams of the bandit being attacked, Naofumi goes over to pick up his bird and place her back on his head.
" Thanks for the save. Perhaps I can tolerate you for a bit."
"Piyooo!" Insulted, Sakura tries to peck Naofumi. But the hit does no damage.
"Alright, I was joking sorry. Now let's go back for my meal I-"
"Well, That was a good show sir hero. I applaud your Ingenuity, it really shows your skill."
Naofumi turns around, recognizing the voice of the person just talking. He looks at the man coming out of the cover of the night, applauding as he walks closer to Naofumi.
"And that little talk of deception, that was a really fun chat to watch."
"Oh, It's Just you," Naofumi said scornfully.
"You don't seem too happy to see me."
"If you were hated by an entire country I believe you'll feel the same."
"Aw yes, I've heard about the tragedy myself. The young and freshly summoned hero of the shield forced himself on a party member who did nothing but be kind to the man. Such a tragedy."
"I SAID I DIDN'T DO IT!" Naofumi yelled as he slammed his fist against the wall. The wall turned green indicating no damage was done.
"Even if you are the culprit of this heinous crime, I wouldn't really care. I just saw that you are in dire need of help, and being the man of business I've decided to deliver, for the right price of course."
"You'll take advantage of me at my lowest point just to gain a profit."
"Of course, I'm glad that you were able to catch onto my intention so quickly. It would help make our business go a lot smoother."
"You really are a piece of Shit. Show me the inventory."
"Wonderful, now if you would follow me, I would lead us back to my glorious tent."
"That's cool and all, but assuming this is my second time shopping with you, can I at least get a name and proof of purchase this time? Can't have anymore bullshit like the trail."
"Proof of purchase is a simple thing to do. As for the name… not a lot of people ask me that sir hero, but you can call me Beloukas."
'I guess the old guy was right then.' Naofumi thought as he follows Beloukas across town into an alleyway leading to a giant circus tent. Naofumi remembers the first time he was here, he looks over at Sakura and she is sleeping on his head, Only getting confused about how she is balancing on his head while being asleep but decides to question it later.
"Welcome back to our monster area."
"I actually want something else. Specifically not a creature that would literally eat through my wallet."
"Not to be rude sir hero, but didn't your filolial just hatch?"
"She did, and she's hungry seven times throughout the day. I'll happily assume you didn't modify her to have this happen."
"I would never. I am a man of my word."
"We'll see about that."
Naofumi walked down the circus tent with Belokaus following shortly after.
"Also I forgot to say, but I'm not looking to buy a monster either."
"Oh, you aren't buying directly? Then perhaps you want to try your hand at the lottery again for a chance at an even stronger monster?"
"Not that either. Monster training takes too long to be effective. I need something that's already prepared to fight.
Reaching the desired area. Naofumi pulls back the curtain and walks into the slave section of the tent.
"I desire your cheapest option. Preferably around the ten silver range."
"Oh, this is a new development. If that is truly what you desire, follow me over here," Beloukas says as he leads Naofumi over too few cages, he removes the cloth revealing the slaves.
After looking at them Naofumi put the cloth back and looked at Belokaus.
"Anything else?"
"Are you not satisfied so, hero?"
"Well looking at them. One is missing an arm, another looks severely damaged in the mental department, and the other one is most likely dead. Why would I be satisfied!"
"I'll have my henchmen deal with that, but I can attempt to make a compromise. I have a new shipment coming in by next week, if you return then I can probably find something you'll like." Belokaus takes out a quill and starts to write on a paper. "Do you have any preferences?"
"Cheap, but effective."
"As in cheep, do you mean-"
"Just get me something that's not broken or dead!"
"Will do, I promise to not disappoint. Now about your Filolial."
"She is not and will never be for sale."
"I don't desire your Filolial sir hero, just be warned. A Filolial's nature is to pull things. It's also heavily heard a rumor that they tend to become restless when they aren't able to. So grabbing a cart early is the best course to properly maximize your Filolials efforts."
"I can assume that information wasn't cheap."
"For you, it's free of charge as a testament to our further business together."
"Bold of you to assume I'll be returning but sure. Just keep up your end of the deal and I'll keep it up in mind. Now if you excuse me, I'm going to sleep."
"I wish a good night's rest to you sir hero," Belkaus say as Naofumi walks outside the tent.
"I guess the plan is happening far sooner than we expected."
"It doesn't really matter when it happens, but it's great that you were able to find him. It seems like you're one of the only people he trusts, I daresay." A mysterious voice says as it appears in the room.
"With how others treat him, it only makes sense, but this may prove a bit difficult. His price range is a rather low one, I thought I would have gotten more silvers during this transaction too. The best I would be able to find at that price is a child."
"Whatever you give him is up to you, just do you the job, and the queen shall reward you later, I daresay."
"Then I'll get the shipment ready right away, a noble in the Raiber territory is selling a few so I'll get some from them."
"Good, I'll be back in a week to check up on the progress on the mission, I daresay. They say as they jump into the air and disappear.
"I always wonder where they go when they do that but now is not the time for questions. Henchmen grab the quill and parchment, it's time to send a letter. And please remove that corpse, we don't want any smells around here."