I do not own Rising of the Shield Hero
Ace-Triad informed me that they need to work overtime for black Friday this weekend, so unfortunately this chapter is not SPAG edited. I didn't want to do a fake post with only status update, so I'm putting this chapter unedited as it is for anyone who does not mind SPAG mistakes too much. I will update the chapter again when it's been final edited.
Special thanks for Angel Wrath who read my first draft and provided great feedback on a few points.
The trip back to Lute Village proper took less time than the large group spent to prepare for the trip.
Considering Wel's concussion, they ended up chopping lots of long branches from the trees. The woodman's axe Naofumi carries below his fur bag is put to good use along with the ones from the hunting party. The lead hunter Gaston fashioned some kind of fan shaped sledge stretcher with a few older boy's help. It looks very similar to the one tied behind their single filorial, except much smaller and can be pulled by human, and not a large bird of burden.
When it comes down to who will carry the downed boy, the Shield Hero volunteered himself to everyone's surprise.
"Wel got hurt because I didn't protect him properly, like I should have. Thanks, Kyubei." Naofumi's second sentence is aimed at the rabbit man, who hands the Shield Hero back his blue tinted knight's helmet. The thing rolled away from his head onto the ground when the porcupines pounced him. It's rather remarkable there's not even a scratch on the Shield Hero's head after being gnawed for a solid minute by a monster with higher level than him. "I'll take responsibility to bring him home."
It seems like the Shield Hero's sentimental nature is triggered at the most strange time. The kid isn't even hurt that badly, and he'll be fine after a good eight hours rest when his body is recharged by the Aether in the air. Yet Naofumi is acting as if he got the child in question killed.
"Master Naofumi, you shouldn't beat yourself too hard on it. That porcupine jumped out fast, there's not much we could do." Mein quickly skids her way to Naofumi's side. She wraps her arms around the solemn looking young man. "Your quick action protected everyone else."
"But if I went with the lookout, no one would be hurt." Naofumi looks like he's ready to beat himself more. He is stopped by a loud cough and a wave from the lead hunter.
"Kid, look at that monster." Gaston wraps his hand around Naofumi's wrist like a cuff, he drags the young man from another world to stand beside the sledge behind the black filorial. The overbearing hunter points his finger at the dead porcupines on the wooden sledge behind his bird. "That one we brought back, it took every hunter from the village lead by me, Gaston, the greatest hunter of Lute to take down. You killed two with the kids who haven't even begin hunting rabbit pills. You should feel damn proud of yourself, not beat yourself over a small mistake."
"They are right, Mister Shield Hero. Don't feel sad." The boy on the stretcher says with a faint smile on his face. He winces a little with his features afterwards. "I'll be fine after some rest."
"Don't keep kick yourself, you are a hero, aren't you? Forget what you didn't do, remember what you already done for everyone." The lead hunter gives Naofumi a nod and a pad on the shoulder. He points his finger to one of the more burly looking man in their group. "You, Webb. Carry Wel back home. I'll take Shield Hero to see Georg."
Naofumi's eyes follow the hunter as the pompous man strides away towards the quiet village in the distance. It's hard to tell what the young man is thinking, but at least he's no longer making a fuss over the child anymore.
Chapter 15: Prepare for the Future
A group of villagers are gathered around the northern entrance of their dirty little hamlet. A big pile of wood logs, planks and ropes lay haphazardly around on the ground. As the joint group of Shield Hero's party, Lute child scouts and hunters get closer, Mein notices the villagers picking up the logs and planks to plant them firmly into the ground while others begin tying ropes around to make some kind of frame.
By the estimation of the undercover princess, the people of Lute is trying to make a watchtower.
It's probably better time and resource spend than trying to build any defensive fortification, considering the first wave smashed through a much better developed Port Town without any difficulties. If the reports is to be believed.
A watch tower on the other hand at least let the village know about the unstoppable threat earlier, and more people can start running for their lives before the monsters crush down the gate.
The person oversees the construction is a middle aged and clean shaved bold man, who looks like the long lost younger brother of the Smith Demon despite the lack of thick sideburns and goatee. He wears a suit of properly made, if somewhat beaten and weathered splinter mail. Not to mention he carries a steel sword and a steel plate reinforced round shield instead of some wooden planks tied up together by ropes.
A retired or discharged soldier from the army, perhaps?
Someone near the construction site notices the large group approaching. One by one, they turn around to look at the large approaching group, some even pulls whatever makeshift weapon they have and drops into untrained fighting stances.
The leader hunter Gaston runs forward, opens his arms and waves at the crowd. "No need for alarm, ladies and gentlemen. Your best hunter has returned with the game."
"Put away your weapon, it's not raiders." The lost brother of Smith Demon returns his weapon to its sheath and put his shield behind his back. He walks forward a few steps to meet up with the returned group of hunters and child scouts. The as yet unnamed man casts a quick look at the dead monsters being pulled by their single filorial. "Three porcupines in a single trip? You really outdone yourself this time, Gaston. Their leather and bones can outfit five, six more men after our butcher and craftsman go through them."
"Well, you know I love myself some genuine praise, old Georg." The pompous hunter puffs out his chest and gives the crowd a charming grin, his white teeth positively shining under the sun. "But I only brought back one, two of them are thanks to our little ones."
"The kids?" Georg's eyes grow wide for a split second before he starts to laugh. "Now you are just pulling my leg, Gaston. What's the chance the little ones bring back two of those big swine when you only got one?"
"They had big help of course." The hunter steps to the side, bends his upper body into a theatrical bow while swinging his arms towards Naofumi right behind him. "Georg, people of Lute. I'd like to introduce you all to the hero of shield."
"The Shield Hero, you say?" The bold man at arms sizes Naofumi up and down while the crowd begin to quietly bite each other's ears. It's clear the much younger man from another world is still uncomfortable when lots of attention are focused on him, judging by how Naofumi shifts left and right, his feet quietly shuffling just like their raccoon girl earlier. Georg turns back to one of the younger man with short brown hair. "Over see the watchtower construction, Bevil."
"Me?" The young man takes half an unconscious step back and freezes on the spot, he quickly recovers from his stupor and steps forward and puffs out of his chest. "Yes sir!"
"I haven't introduced myself. Georg, leader of Lute militia." The bold man walks up to Naofumi and bows down at the young hero. "I know heroes of the realm are busy man, our elder is talking with Sir Rathos, a retired knight from her majesty's service about our village's defense. If milord is willing to spare a few moment of you and your companions' time, we'll all be very grateful."
"Please, not more of this 'milord' stuff, it's embarrassing." A shade of pink slowly appears on Naofumi's face as he looks away. "We don't have any more plans, lead on."
"Sir Shield Hero then, thank you very much." The bold man at arm bows down to Naofumi again, making the younger man fidget on his feet once again. Georg turns to look at Gaston. "Gaston, you come with us too. We'll need you to recount what happened."
"You'll want to take Raki alone in that case." The lead hunter reaches out with his big hand and grabs Raki by his shoulder, he begin to ruffle the boy's already messy hair till it resembles more of tumbleweed than anything that should be on top a human's scalp. "I was only there near the tail end, Raki was with the Shield Hero longer."
"I was there from the beginning. Sir." The young swordsman turns to look at the Shield Hero and his companions. Raki's gaze lingers a moment more on Raphtalia before looking back at Georg. "Met Sir Shield Hero on Mr. big Bill's ranch. Big Bill asked Sir Shield Hero to look after us on the field, and Sir Shield Hero agreed."
"Truly? Okay, both you and Gaston come to the meeting hall with us." Georg turns back to Naofumi again, this time with a nod instead of a full bow. "If you would follow me, Sir Shield Hero."
"Lead on." Naofumi nods back at the older man as George turns away to walk toward the big wooden building beside the main road.
Mein quickly jogs her way to stand right beside Naofumi and whispers into his ear. "Master Naofumi, you notice he mentioned a retired knight?"
Naofumi turns to look at Mein with half raised eyebrow. "Yeah, what of it?"
"Most knights in Melromarc follow the Faith of the Three, not Four." Naofumi's eyes wander away from looking at Mein's face. The undercover princess can practically see the metaphorical fireball lighting up beside his head.
"Will he hurt you guys?" Ironically or perhaps rather predictably with her Naofumi, he is more concerned for his companions' wellbeing rather than his own with that revelation.
"I don't think so, unless he's a diehard fanatic like those squatters back in the slum." Both the princess and the hero cringes again when that sordid affair is mentioned. "Just beware, he'll probably not be as friendly as these good people from Lute."
"Got it. Don't worry about it. I'm used to the cold shoulder treatment." Naofumi lets out a deep breath, not quite an exasperated sigh but more of a resigned acceptance. It reminds Mein how little she knows of the young man before he is summoned to this land, and what little she manages to pry from Naofumi's tight lips paint a decidedly grim picture.
"Don't worry, Master Naofumi. People will come around and accept you, because you are a good person." The princess in disguise tightens her arms around Naofumi, even if he's not looking at her.
The retired knight in question has thick gray hair and a small mustache over his mouth, his rip bulging muscles a health tan color outside his green tunic. The man looks well over sixties, most definitely out of his prime but with a well trained body tempered by decade of warfare that makes him the most dangerous man currently in Lute, even with the Shield Hero's party included.
Mein begins to unclip the straps of her leather helmet and takes it off her head as soon as she cast eyes on the knight. If the man has served her mother for as long as he did, he should know her identity even if she does not recognize the face of this retired knight. And there will be less chance of him saying or doing something rude to Naofumi, if he realizes the first princess is in Shield Hero's party.
There is of course, the chance of him blurting out her true identity to her Naofumi without thinking. But it should be a blunder she can recover from.
Hopefully.
The knight's gray eyes widen for a split second as his sight move from the Shield Hero to Mein. The undercover princess subtly points her chin towards Naofumi's direction, and gives a very faint nod.
The old man schools his face but does not say anything. Good, he is apparently wise enough to know about a simple fact in life: The less one speaks, the less mistakes one makes.
"Mein? Is there something wrong?" Naofumi seems to notice something as he stops in his track to look at the princess in disguise. The Shield Hero is as perceptive as ever, good thing Mein has the perfect excuse to misdirect his suspicion.
"Master Naofumi, it's considered very rude to speak with your helmet on when you are indoors. Unless you are a knight or a guardsman on duty."
"Oh, OH! Sorry." Naofumi quickly swings his arms up and snatches the helmet off his face, letting his messy hair fall down in a slightly more natural way.
"Elder, Sir Rathos." The bold militia leader nods to the men speaking in front of the long table and extend his arm. "I would like to introduce you to the Shield Hero and his traveling companions. He accompanied Gaston's hunters and Raki's scouts in the field."
"Actually, old Georg. Shield Hero accompanied Raki's scouts. I only meet them after everything is over and they killed two Porcupines." Gaston gives Raki a heavy pat on the Shoulder.
The boy manages to catch himself before he almost tips over. He stands straight to look at the village elder in the eyes. "Yes, Elder Lute. My scouts were going to gather some useful herbs and shrooms on the field and cut some overgrown branches. Maybe hunt a few small monsters on the way. Mr. Shield Hero was talking with Filorial Bill, so he asked Mr. Shield Hero to look over us."
"Ah, right. You mentioned at the gate. My bad." Georg slaps his own bold head. He moves his arms towards the two older man in the hall and turns to face Naofumi. "Lord Shield Hero, the elder of our humble little village, and Sir Ashley Rathos."
"I'm no longer a knight in her majesty's service, Georg. No need for the title." The old knight gives a quick nod to the bold man who can be mistaken for Smith Demon's brother.
"Once a knight, always a knight. Sir Rathos." Georg simply smiles at the former knight.
"The Shield Hero you say, Georg? He looks a little young..." The town elder slowly turns his head to look at the young man in front of him. The man wears a set of shirts with a suit jacket, giving him a look of comparable importance to wealthier city dwellers than the cotton tunic wearing common villagers. "But that's how legendary heroes are supposed to be. Not old timers like us. No offense meant to you, milord."
"None taken." Naofumi gives a quick bow of his head to the elder, he gives a quick sideway glance to Sir Rathos before continuing. "I saw the people preparing for the coming wave outside, is there anything I can help?"
"Sir Rathos and I were talking about what we can do for the defense of Lute before milord's arrival. If you don't mind, maybe we can all sit down and resume our discussion." The village elder slowly turns halfway to gesture to the long table.
The retired knight sits down on one end of the narrow side, while Elder Lute site down on the other. The blonde boy seems unsure if he should sits down like the rest of the adults or stand. That's until Gaston drags him by the wrist and pushes him into a chair. Naofumi, Mein and the three demi-human slaves are given the seats on the opposite long side to where the Lute villagers sit.
"Maybe I should get Lord Shield Hero aquatinted to everyone first. This is Sir Rathos, a veteran knight who has been in the service of the crown since the mother of her grace Queen Mirelia." Elder Lute extend his arm towards the old knight sitting opposite to himself.
"Over three decades of service to the crown, never done anything remarkable. But I was lucky enough to live through the Great War, have two daughters and retire. They call me Lucky Ashley back in the Order." Sir Rathos gives a self-depreciating smile to Naofumi. He looks the Shield Hero up and down. "Nice armor. A custom made Knight's Plate Mail with blue Chromezoid is it? Reminds me of the old days when my shoulder doesn't hurt if I try to swing my sword. Traded my own armor to a smith in the capital about ten years ago. Had a bad harvest that year, had to get money to pay for my daughters' apprenticeships."
"That was you?" Naofumi blinks his eyes a couple of time. He places the helmet he's carrying onto the table. "I got this set from Elhard's Smithy. He bought it from a knight some years ago in a bad harvest."
"Huh... Who would have thought my old armor ends up in the possession to a Cardinal Hero. Hope it served you as well as it did myself." The old knight lets out a hearty laugh, completely ignoring he's technically chatting and laughing with the enemy of his faith. "One of my daughter was picked as a companion for the heroes. If you see her, say hi for me."
The village elder clears his throat to reminds everyone his existence. "The homestead of Sir Rathos is close to us, he come and buy supplies from our general store once in a while when he doesn't want to go all the way to the capital. And he's here to lend his expertise in warfare in Lute's time of need. Milord has already meet the leader of our town militia Georg, and the head hunter Gaston."
"I joined the army near the end of the Great War. Fought in the Battle of Free Pass, our final offense to push Siltvelt occupation force out of Melromarc." Georg stands up from his seat to give a respectful bow to Naofumi. "Bloody fight too, lost half of the men I trained with on that day."
Mein remembers reading over no less than a dozen times about that particular battle. The final battle where every resistance group of Melromarc came together to clash with the elite of Siltvelt army that wasn't busy fighting with Faubley force on the other front.
Father rarely speak about that particular battle even though he was the commander and the Battle of Free Pass was considered one of his crowning achievement. He always look the other way and dodge the question back when asked for the details of that battle.
Mein's mind wanders back to the back alley littered with freshly dead bodies of her fellow countrymen. Those were only a group of squatters she knew nothing about. What would it be like for father in the aftermath of the bloodiest battle of the Great War, where a large number of the dead are no doubt people who he knew since the beginning of the war? Even if they are the victor.
The undercover princess feels like she can understand her father a little better now.
"Was the last Shield... Hero in the battle? I heard he forsake his duty and spend most of his time in some palace." Naofumi's question makes everyone turn around to look at him. It's the kind of look someone gives to an ignorant person who has been living away from society for too long. They quickly avoid their gazes, probably realizing how rude they are being to the current Shield Hero.
"Guess nobody give you a full history lesson on the last set of heroes, eh?" Gaston crosses his arms in front of his chest as he leans his chair back. "Good old King of Rape was long dead by the time the Great War happened. The beasts he left in charge of his evil empire was still strong though."
"Oh." Naofumi's face turn red once again when he realizes the wrong assumption he unknowingly made. "I, I just thought... there must be a reason why he got that title... I-I thought it's because all that 'Right of First Night' business... Shutting up now."
"Milord is still new to our country, we can't expect milord to instantly gain full knowledge of the sordid past between the different countries." Elder Lute clears his throat once again. He looks at the old knight. "Perhaps Sir Rathos does not mind filling in some history lessons?"
"Ah, yes. The Battle of Free Pass. Those Siltvelt whoresons brought their Northern Legion on us. I was the only one to survive in our company. Knocked out by an arrow in our final charge before I even crossed blade with a single Northern Heavy Cavalry." The old knight snaps his eyes shut and shakes his head in self-loathing. His eyes are distant and misty when they reopened. "We won the battle in the end, thanks to General Anderson slain the Chief of Stormcloak clan in single combat and broke Siltvelt Northern Legion's spirit. Would have made those whoresons pay tenfold for everyone of our dead too... if the young lord of House Stark didn't rally his banners to turn their rout into a retreat. He may be a filthy animal half-breed, but he has the noble blood of the Midgard royal house in his vein."
Mein cast a quick glance towards her Naofumi. She sees the young hero pursing his lips with slight downward inclined eyebrow. It's evident that the idealistic otherworlder is not appreciating the old knight's more hateful rhetoric toward the Siltvelt animals, even if they totally deserve it!
And who knows what else the knight might end up blurt out, if he's allowed to run his mouth. The last thing Mein need right now is for her Naofumi to give up on Melromarc. And more importantly, grow resentful towards her by association!
The princess in disguise clears her throat just like the village elder a few moment before and stands up. "Please excuse my impudence... but perhaps we should get back to topic on how best to defend Lute, and not lost in reminiscing about a war almost two decades into the past? There'll be plenty of time to catch up on history lesson after we live through the incoming wave."
"Ah, sorry. I let my sentiment got the better of me. Please, do continue, Elder Lute." Sir Rathos snaps out of his reverie and nods to the Village elder who seems to be busy chewing his bottom lips.
"Certainly. Gaston here is the leader of our hunters." The hunter in question stands up from his chair and gives a dramatic deep bow toward the Shield Hero's party. "He was in the Melromarc Ranger Corp for five years before."
A retired knight who served two queens, a local militia leader who fought in one of the most bloody battle of the Great War, and a hunter who spend five years in the Ranger Corp. Those are apparently the people who make plans for the defense of Lute throughout the Wave of Catastrophe. It does not compare with father's war council, but Mein suppose it's not too shabby for a collection of dirty commoners.
"Helped me become the best hunter in this village too. Wouldn't trade anything for it." The lead hunter sits back down and winks back at everyone between his boasting. He probably does not even notice the Shield Hero's female companion isn't paying much attention to him. "Shame I was too young back in the Great War. Would have loved to give those beast from Siltvelt a piece of my mind."
"You might still have the chance." Lautrec crosses his arms and snorts right back at the pompous hunter.
"Is that a challenge I hear?" Gaston glares right back at the lizard man. The head hunter is either too dumb to know about the reputation of the lizard of Mara Gobi desert, or too prideful to back down.
"If you fancy losing limbs, rabbit hunter." Kyubey gives a quick sideway glance towards Lautrec, probably not pleased at being used as a derogatory by the more intimidating demi-human of their group. But the rabbit man obviously have stronger self-preservation instinct than Gaston. He does not say anything to Lautrec's face.
"Nobody is losing any limbs today. If you two have it out for each other, sit down on the side and have an arm wrestle or something." Naofumi stands up from his seat and pushes Lautrec right back down.
"And of course. We have young Raki here. He may be young, but he's responsible for the child scout here in Lute." The elder looks at the young boy in question. The blonde swordsman seems to show an unusual amount of shyness under the watchful eyes of adults. The boy suddenly seems to find the pattern on the wooden long table the most fascinating thing in the world.
"No offense, but should we involve children in this?" Naofumi looks between the elder and the blonde boy whose face is increasingly glowing red just like the Shield Hero earlier. "Elhard, the smith I got my equipment from does not even deal with children... well, Raphtalia was an exception since she's afraid to be left with people she doesn't know. And she needs a weapon and armor since we are fighting monsters for a living."
"I can leave all this discussion about preparing for the wave to you adults. I need to check up on Wel..." Raki seems relieved to learn he does not need to sit with the other leadership of the village, or man in position of power. The boy all but leaps up from his seat. Unfortunately for the poor boy, he is grabbed by Georg before he can get anywhere else.
"No, you should listen to this, Raki. Me and Gaston will be at the front when the wave hit us. If Lute suffers the same fate as Port Harp... it'll be up to you to lead the survivors." The militia leader's face is stern with grim determination as he pushes Raki back down into his seat by the shoulder once again.
"Oh, okay..." The boy looks left and right, unable to find anything to focus his sight on. It must be one hell of a mountain for him to come down on, being told he needs to be the adult because everyone else will be dead. Right after a fun adventure with a hero of legend no less.
"As I was discussing with the village elder before Sir Shield Hero's arrival, I'm already retired from her Majesty's service, but I still have some connections back in the army." Sir Rathos takes over the direction of the conversation now everyone from Lute is introduced. "I can talk with the quartermasters of Melromarc Castle's garrison. They should have some old equipment sitting in the warehouse they'll toss away for newer and better gear. Should be better than what your craftsmen make with Monster's bones."
"Where are we going to find the money for them, Sir Rathos? I doubt even with your connection, the quartermaster would willing to simply gave equipment away to us country folks." The village elder shrugs his shoulder and opens his empty hands. "We don't have much fund coming into our humble village these days after the mines in Harvest Valley started to dry up... and even if we do, we are hard pressed to find man power to go dig up the precious ores. Even the most common monsters have become more aggressive now with the wave."
"Aye, not to mention the king's recruiter drafted a lot of able bodied men after what happened to old Seattle. Webb's two brothers are now in the capital drilled to be soldiers, not hunters. I had to take a bunch of farmers who can't tell the difference between the head and tail of an arrow on our hunting trips." Gaston simply nods his head without much fanfare, it seems even the flamboyant hunter knows how bad the situation is for their squalid little village.
"I think it's wiser to spend what money we do have on Alchemist's Fire, we can toss them at the monsters from afar, and they burn for a while after they shatter. Armor and weapon is great if we are dealing with increased regular monster and bandit raid. But if the next wave open near Lute, it won't help us if we die in a hit from the Wavespawn monsters." Georg's voice makes the other hang their head low, it's obvious he speaks the truth if nobody is there to offer objection. "We might have a better chance if we are around level 20, or even 10... but we aren't soldiers or adventurers."
"So your plan is to sit here and pray the wave doesn't hit you, and if it does... pray for the heroes to save you, or lay on your back and die?" Lautrec snorts at the downcast villagers of Lute and the retired knight. "In that case, might I introduce you all to worship my Goddess?"
"Not now, Lautrec!" Naofumi pushes his hand into Lautrec's lower jaw to snap him shut, preventing the infuriating reptile from roughing anyone's feather. The Shield Hero turns back and gives the villagers an apologetic smile. "Sorry about that, Lautrec is... well, he's not entirely there, after what happened from the last wave."
"Ah, right. Three of your companions are demi-humans. Are they survivors from Port Harp, perhaps?" Sir Rathos turns his head left to look beyond Naofumi and Mein. It appears like the retired knight has been ignoring the three demi-human slaves in the Shield Hero's party.
"Yes, we are. I used to run the general store in Port Harp's dock district." Kyubey give a faint nod as confirmation. "The wave split the sky open just outside the wall near the beach, countless monsters overrun the city watch in less than an hour. Everything after that was pure chaos."
"Mommy and daddy... we were running away from monsters. They pushed me into the sea to save me..." The raccoon girl seems to recall the exact incident that left her orphaned. Her eyes turns red with tears and looks down at the table.
The little demi-human girl can't narrate the whole experience of how she lost her parents, but the message is still clear. Her parents was torn apart in front of her eyes. Dirty animals or not, they certainly didn't deserve... that.
Mein turns around to face Raphtalia. She pulls the sobbing girl into a hug and heaves Raphtalia up to her own legs. The princess in disguise gently brush the raccoon girl's hair and whispers into her ears. "You poor thing, don't say anything, just let it out."
"Damn. Sorry I brought it up." Sir Rathos hangs his head down to look into his hand.
"And that was the first wave where the monsters are at their weakest, and Port Harp was a major trading town with a regular garrison. If the wave opens near us... the best we can do is to delay the monsters and let the children run." Georg turns his head toward the leader of the child scout. "Raki, get everyone you know ran to the capital. Don't stop at anything."
The boy in question looks back from the raccoon girl to Georg. He stays completely still for a moment before nodding his head as if something heavy filled his skull. "Yes, sir."
"Actually, that would be a bad idea." Kyubey gives Raphtalia who is still trembling in Mein's embrace a long stare. "Running might work for regular monster swarm, or bandit raid. But in a raid, there'll be monsters everywhere. The kids won't make far, even if you give them your filorials. It's better to have them hide out of sight. The monsters from wave are almost mindless creatures attacking things in their sight, but they have a hard time going after things they don't detect. Most of survivors from Port Harp hide from the Wavespawn, not trying to run away from them."
The people from Lute stares at Kyubey with slack jaws for a while. Their militia leader is the first to recover. "That's invaluable information! We have some underground vault to store our food, we still have time to hide the entrance and turn them into shelters for the children! We are truly indebted to you for telling us this, noble companion of Shield Hero!"
Naofumi suddenly sits up from his slouch. It's like the Shield Hero suddenly dug up something important from deep within his memory. "Not sure how much time you'll have before a wave hit you, but if the monsters from wave are dumb, you can even use tunnel warfare against them."
The word is unfamiliar to the undercover first princess. Even more of the young hero's otherworldly wisdom perhaps?
"Tunnel... warfare? I'm afraid I'm unfamiliar with the term." Georg gives a puzzled look to Sir Rathos. The retired knight simply opens his hand to show he has nothing either.
"Right, this was used in the last Great War of our world. Basically, a village on the plain with nowhere to hide from an invading army would dig hidden and interconnected tunnels underneath, where civilians can setup shelter, chock point, and even kill zones to ambush a professional army to protect themselves. I think something like this will be effective against monsters from the waves too?" Once again, Mein can practically see the metaphorical fireball lighting up beside the heads of the villagers.
"That's... brilliant! We won't have enough time to do something like this for the incoming wave, but it'll be useful in the future. If we have Shena's mother apply some fortification runes on the tunnel, they'll even be useful as shelter if we are invaded by a foreign army again! Milord's people must be geniuses to come up with such a defensive strategy!" Elder Lute looks positively giddy as a child despite his age. The much older villager elder is bouncing on his chair with barely contained excitement.
Naofumi's reaction on the other hand is very strange. He looks left and right, not meeting the eyes of the people of Lute. "Actually... it was used by our neighbor."
'That we invaded' was left unsaid, but the implication is unmistakable.
"...oh." Elder Lute's reply is equally sophisticated.
Mein cringes just like the Shield Hero for entirely different reason. Honestly, her Naofumi should not have been honest with true. Subliminally linking himself with the last Shield... Hero should be the last thing he does.
"We got distracted by unrelated matter. Fantastical warfare from the hero's home world is interesting, but let's focus on the disaster at hand." Mein clear her throat again to draw the room's attention away from Naofumi. "Maybe we should explain what we DO know about the actual Wave of Catastrophe to Master Naofumi first? We never got a chance to go over yet since his summon."
The three adults from Lute glances over each other. Elder Lute is the one who answers. "Milord does not know how the wave works? Legend says it that the summoned hero would have innate knowledge on a lot of things."
"Well, obviously the legend is wildly exaggerated. Master Naofumi's world may have certain text regarding our world, but its information isn't always accurate. I mean, how many different version of text the Church of Four for the same event throughout our history?" Mein lifts her head to glare at the elder. Granted, it's not the old man's fault to question common belief held in their world, but her Naofumi did not appreciate people make wrong assumption of him.
Naofumi gives one long look at Mein, it makes the undercover princess wonder if she stepped over some invisible line. The Shield Hero simply settles with a faint nod of his head. "Yeah, what Mein said."
"Please forgive us, milord. We meant no disrespect, merely surprised." The poor old man takes a hankie out of his pocket to wipe his own face, obviously afraid he caused some great offense to the hero that stand between his village and certain death. "We haven't seen any wave happen with our own eyes of course. But from the stories we heard from wandering bards... the sky opens up in a deep slash of red and unspeakable monsters pour out of them. The only way to close it is to kill the 'boss monster'."
"And the wave will continuously spew out smaller monsters as the boss monster is still alive. Port Harp was a special case where the world leaders took too long to... discuss who summon which hero, and no hero was present when it happened. The lords couldn't rally enough high level commanders, or adventurers in time to kill the boss monster, unlike summoned heroes who will be immediately teleported to the battle by their legendary weapon's magic." Georg takes over the conversation to explain the actual battle strategy involved with the wave. "With heroes such as Lord Shield Hero yourself, we only need to worry about stragglers who wanders away from the wave. But even their levels will be too high for us to handle if the army can't arrive in time."
"And we aren't just laying on our back waiting to die, as your pious companion suggested." Gaston narrows his eyes and shoots Lautrec another glare. "All able bodied adult in this village are taking turns to hunt monsters out in the field like my hunting party, both to stock up on the supplies and to raise our level. But we'll be lucky to get one or two levels with the next wave only two weeks away."
Naofumi bites on his lips with a deep frown as the meeting hall falls into silence once again. He squints his eyes tightly shut for a few moment and lets out a deep sigh. The Shield Hero leans into the back of his chair and rises his hand once again. "I... I confess I hasn't been completely honest with you guys. Back in the capital I met with some people from Siltvelt. They taught me how the last Shield... Hero used EXP sharing from Battle Formation to quickly raise the level of his armies. I didn't open it up for Raki's scout because I feel like there would be some catch for using it. But now seeing how bad things are for you guys. I think I'll help level all of you up."
The meeting hall stays quiet for about five breathes before the floodgate of loud voice is opened. The village elder, Georg and Gaston all begin to speak over each other to the point Mein can't hear what any of them are saying.
"QUIET!" Sir Rathos slaps his hand onto the wooden table, making a loud echo in the room and have the old table squeak under his palm. "I know all of you are excited to receive help from a summoned hero, but don't overwhelm him!"
"Ah, please forgive us again, milord. I'm afraid we let our excitement get the better of us, like Sir Rathos stated." Elder Lute sits back into his chair to wipe some more sweat from his face. "Are you sure you would be willing to help us out? I'm sure a hero like you have a lots of places to be, and a lot more important people than us simple farmers and hunters to save."
Good, the village elder at least knows his place as nothing more than a little pebble in the way for the current incognito First Princess to gain the future crown of glorious Melromarc. Or he may be a worm over playing his village's pity to gain sympathy from the Shield Hero.
Unfortunately, Mein already know what her Naofumi would do. This is unfortunately the down side of picking a kind hearted and sentimental hero.
"It's no trouble, really. My level is also pretty low because of my bad attack stats. The monsters around here is right in my range, and If I'm gaining level myself while helping out you guys, it's a win-win for everybody." Just as Mein guessed, Naofumi openly admitted his weakness to this group of commoners they don't know well, and a knight who no doubt practices the Faith of Three.
"That's great! If what the bard sing about the heroes are true, we should be able to raise our level in days, not in weeks and months while we fight by ourselves! And with two more weeks left for the next wave, that'll be enough time to prepare for it!" Georg stands up from his chair and shakes his fist.
"We'll also hunt more monsters with a hero and his companions lead us. The kiddies out hunted me out there in the field." The lead hunter looks over at Raki and back to Naofumi. "We can make the meat we can't eat ourselves into jerky, and sell them in the capital."
"That's true. With the king and lords drafting as many levies as they can, we have more mouths to feed, less hands feeding them." Sir Rathos nods his head in confirmation as he rubs his chin with his right hand. "I'll go talk to the quartermasters of Melromarc Castle, see if I can work out a deal with them to trade the meat for the old equipment in their storage."
"And if we have more meat left over, we can sell them for money and use them to buy Alchemist's Fire. Even if we are leveled up, it's best we take as many monsters out from distance." Georg nods his head, but a frown slowly creeps up his face. "It's best if we go to the big traders from the capital if we deal in bulk. But none of us here has experience with that amount, not even our store owner. The big traders might kill us with the negotiation if we don't know how much they are worth."
"Meat from a porcupine should be worth a crate of Alchemist Fire." Raphtalia's low murmur makes everyone looks at her, her face turns red at this sudden flood of attention as wiggles out of Mein's lap to hide behind her.
"Don't be afraid, Raphtalia." Naofumi hops off his chair and guide the raccoon girl back into her seat. "Speak your mind. Nobody is going to hurt you."
The raccoon girl looks up at Naofumi's expectant smile and nods her head. She steels her expression to look at the people from Lute village. "Porcupine is about 50 stones heavy, and you can get about 35 stones of meat from them. If you get twenty coppers from each stone of meat, you'll have enough money for twelve bottles of Alchemist's Fire potion from a crate with some spare."
Naofumi looks completely lost at Raphtalia's explanation, probably on account of him still not used to Melromarc's measurement system. The rabbit man sitting on the right of Raphtalia on the other hand is nodding his head alone. "Good estimation, but you are basing it on the base price of fifty coppers per bottle of Alchemist's Fire. They will surely cost more, with the wave."
"Oh." The raccoon girl's ears droops down at Kyubey's rebuke. "So-sorry."
"Not to worry, Raphtalia. You did good." Kyubey runs his good hand through Raphtalia's hair. "I know more because I used to run a store."
"I know Lord Shield Hero has already decided to help us... but would it cause Lord Shield Hero distress, if we were to borrow your companions to trade with the merchants from the capital?" The village elder quickly puts down his hankie and rises up his hands. "You don't have to do it if you don't want to of course, milord. We are grateful for any help you are willing to lend us."
"That'll depends on what Kyubei and Raphtalia want." Naofumi simply turns to look at the rabbit man and raccoon girl, as if those two aren't his slaves.
"I will help in any way I can. I don't want what happened to Port Harp on anyone else." Rabbit man looks up from Raphtalia to speak with his usual deadpan voice. Perhaps it's the seriousness that seems to shine through his eyes, his conviction is unmistakable even if he can't make any expression or have any emotion through his voice.
"I, I help too!" Raphtalia begin to furiously nods her head up and down, after a while she begin to wobble on her seat.
"Don't do that, Raphtalia. It's bad for your head." Naofumi manages to catch the raccoon girl before she can tip over onto the floor. The Shield Hero keeps his hand on Raphtalia's shoulder while looking at the elder of Lute village. "I'll also do my best to help. I been making my own healing potion and medicines since my third day, after I learned this country is... suspicious of the Shield Hero because of the last one."
Mein thinks back to the day she confessed her 'secret' to Naofumi after father's attempt to convict him. That day feels so far behind her now, even though it hasn't been a week yet. The Shield Hero's attempt to have his shield absorb anything and everything has managed to grant them some extra unexpected boon, such as unlocking the potion making mechanic of his shield.
The undercover princess shakes her head away from her reminiscence. She refocuses her attention back on Naofumi. The Shield Hero is placing a few of his health potions onto the table as he continues his explanation to the commoners of Lute. "...I saved up an extra store of health potion and medicines. I can spare some to you guys even set aside the ones I need for my party, and the ones I'll share with the other three heroes."
Both Gaston and Raki grabs one of the potion vials to look at them. The hunter's eyes grow even larger than they usually are. "The color is more vibrant and clear than the ones our craftsman make. They'll come in handy for our hunt!"
"Wow, can you also make some poison too? Mr. Shield Hero?" Raki sets down the potion and look at the Shield Hero. His eyes seems to be sparkling with admiration.
"Sorry, I only knows how to make this health potion, and the medicine to treat disease." Naofumi scratches his own head and looks away, probably unable to handle the boy's disappointment. "I didn't even think about something like poison, till you brought it up on the field."
"That's okay! We can show you all the herb knowledge we know!" Raki jumps down from his seat and runs to Naofumi's side. "We'll take you to our healers, they'll sure to teach you all sorts of recipes for potions and poisons."
"Raki, wait till the elder decide what to do first. Don't cause trouble to Shield Hero." Gaston gives the enthusiastic boy a loud yell. Raki quickly let go of Naofumi's sleeves and pokes his tongue out.
"Well, thank you for placing trust in me, Gaston. But honestly, I don't know much about how to defend Lute. I think Georg and Sir Rathos are the experts here." Elder Lute looks at the two military man with expectation evident in his eyes.
"Sir Shield Hero is probably tired after a trip. Everyone's no doubt busy fixing up things around the village. Or maybe they are preparing the monsters and herbs Gaston's hunters and the kids brought back. I say we let Sir Shield Hero rest well today, maybe find whatever he wants to do while we finish whatever we are doing. We can make a list to plan who'll accompany Shield Hero on the hunt starting tomorrow." Georg scratches his chin for a moment before standing up. "That reminds me, I left Bevil in charge building the new watch tower. I better go make sure everything's fine."
"And I'll start making the list, that's my job as the village elder." Elder Lute also stands up and looks at the hunter. "Gaston, you are the best hunter in the village. Maybe you can plan out the route for the Shield Hero and our hunters?"
"Shouldn't be too hard, Shield Hero's party took down two Porcupines with the kids. They look pretty well equip to deal with any monsters around King's Forest. I think we can go other way into Harvest Valley after we all get couple of levels under our belt. They have stronger monsters roaming around." Gaston nods his head and turns back to Raki. "What was that you saying about go looking after your friend, big man?"
"Oh yeah! I should go check Wel to make sure he's okay! He got hurt fighting those porcupines!" The child swordsman slaps his forehead as he spins on his heel. "Sorry, I gotta run, Mr. Shield Hero. I'll take you to the healers after I check up on Wel?"
"Sure thing, we'll be staying at the inn." Naofumi smiles at the child and ruffles his hair. Raki lets out one last chuckle as he disappears out of the door.
"Well, looks like you guys have a plan figured out. I'll be leaving for my homestead... and I'll see what I can do for you guys with my connections back in the capital." The old retired knight stands up from his own seat, he gives one long look at Naofumi. "You are alright, Shield Hero."
Honestly, it's rather presumptuous for his unremarkable knight to think the Shield Hero even need his confirmation. Then again...
Mein glimpse at Naofumi from the corner of her eyes. His features has become much softer after hearing what can be charitably called compliment from Sir Rathos. It's good that her Naofumi is finally starting to get some appreciation from the important people of glorious Melromarc, even if it starts out as an unremarkable and retired knight.
"Dragon Bees!" Wel's voice echoes out in the thick forest just like a week ago. Lucky for the boy, the Shield Hero is ready to take point this time.
"Everyone, back and flank!" Naofumi charges towards the swarm of giant bees the size of an adult man's head. Completely undeterred by their angry looking reptilian like head, or the giant stinger under their large stomach. "[Leaf Shield]!"
A gust of wind begin to whirl around Naofumi's body, surrounding his body with a maelstrom of... leaves. Just regular, light as feather leaves that won't even do a single point of health damage even on a newborn baby. Fortunately for the Shield Hero, causing actual damage to those monsters isn't what he's aiming for.
The gust of wind mixed up with the flying debris seem to confuses the monsters as they begin to bump into each other. It leaves the perfect opportunity for the rest of Naofumi's party to get into position and attack their flank.
Gaston already released two arrows by the time Mein tosses out a single fireball. The under princess has to give some credit to the pompous hunter, he obviously put some skills into [Rapid Shot], unlike Mein who never has to bother with [Quick Cast]. Maybe she should consider invest that particular skill, now that she no longer has companies of elite knights to protect her, And she's constantly fighting monsters outside the safety of her home.
Kyubey and Lautrec also jumps out of the bushes with the rest of the Lute militia, hunter and child scouts. They manages to kill the dozen of Dragon Bees with only three unlucky villagers getting a glancing hit from the bees on their arms and legs. Judging with the way they move, their armor took most of the damage.
The retired knight Sir Rathos did came through with his promise to Elder Lute. With the extra monsters they hunted thanks to the Shield Hero's help, the entire Lute Militia force is wearing full set of splinter mail and iron weapons instead of their old homemade leather, bone and wood armor. They don't compare with the standard equipment of Melromarc army, but it looks damn right impressive for a bunch of unorganized farmhands.
They can probably pass for a group of sell swords if they walk together into one of the tavern or adventurer's guild in Melromarc Castle.
"Everyone's alright?" Raki is wearing a helmet shaped out of a porcupine's skull one of the Lute's craftsman made. Unfortunately for the children, the army does not have anything their size unless they are naturally large boned, or old enough to pass for adults. At least armor made with monster bones is still much better than the wood armor they wore a week ago. The child scout leader gives a good natured jab towards one of the older boy. "Wel? Didn't hit your head this time?"
"Up yours, Raki!" Wel spits on the ground towards Raki. "I didn't see you going against a porcupine."
"Alright, break it up, children. We are at Harvest Valley, on your guards." Georg walks in between the two squabbling boys to separate them. "You finished butch the monster, Gaston?"
"Almost done... there!" The head hunter slowly gets up from the floor holding a bunch of cut up monster parts and walks to the Shield Hero. "See if you unlock anything good, hero."
"Thanks." Naofumi takes over the different parts of the dragon bee and begin to feed them into the gem of his Shield one by one. He settles last with a shield with a bunch of sharp needle last. "[Bee Needle Shield]! Nice! Another attack shield for me!"
"Don't know what got you so excited, Shield Hero. You still can't kill anything pass a balloon." Lautrec crosses his arms in front of his chest and tosses the preverbal wet blanket over Naofumi's head. He's also wearing a set of custom tailored monster leather armor made by Lute's craftsman to fit his body. For all his posturing of the goddess' protection, the lizard man certainly didn't object to have an actual suit of armor.
"You said the same thing when I unlocked my [Leaf Shield] ability. Look how useful it is now." Naofumi simply smirks at the reptile as he pokes one of the dead bee monster with his feet. That manages to shut Lautrec up after a disgruntled snort.
Apparently, that's an ability unlocked from the legendary shield after Naofumi fed it a dozen different kind of leaves. For some unexplained reason the young otherworlder was very excited when he got it. He even started holding his right arm up while making some strange 'pew pew' noise while activating that particular ability. Mein simply can't wrap her head around Naofumi's apparent otherworldly wisdom. The kids loved it though.
"I think it's great Master Naofumi is getting stronger day by day, thanks to everyone's help." Mein quickly get closer to her Naofumi and wraps her arms around his shoulder.
At least the three orange abominations her Naofumi domesticated does not bite her like their wild brethrens. It still annoys the princess in disguise to no end, that she's also making close contact with the rubber terrors every time she wants to get close with her Naofumi, but at least she's making progress.
"Is that honey, Mister Gaston?" The excited scream of a few younger children draws both Mein and Naofumi's attention toward the sound. They walks over to see the hunter cutting one of the dead monster's large stomach open and extracting a thick yellow liquid into his bottle.
"Sure is, boys and girls. Dragon bee honey will fetch a good price on the market." Gaston's smirk instantly evaporate when he turns around to face a wall of big teary eyes from the children.
"Can we... save some? To thank the Shield Hero, of course." One of the children turns around to look at Naofumi almost like an afterthought.
You aren't fooling anyone, you damn brat! It's obvious you want the sweet for yourself.
"Well... I suppose we can save it for a celebration feast to thank the Shield Hero and his companions for all they done for us." Gaston stands up from the dead monster and gives a good hard ruffle of the kid's hair.
Gaston's black filorial lets out a chirpy squawk behind him. Mein is fairly sure the bird is agreeing with his master.
"We had a good haul today. Let's bring them back to the village, get them prepared." Georg looks back at Gaston's black filorial, and another one with mixed white and yellow feather lend to them by Filorial Bill. The body of monster is piling up behind the little wooden sledge behind their backs. "Are you coming back with us, Sir Shield Hero?"
"I'll stay in Harvest Valley for a little more. See if I can find any more materials for my shield." Naofumi looks over his party. Mein mimics the Shield Hero's gesture and find not even the raccoon girl look tired. It's probably thanks to their increased level, even little Raphtalia is over level ten now.
"Are you sure, Sir Shield Hero? I can spare a few men to help you if you want." The bold militia leader looks over his men, all of them nod their head in various degree.
"Don't worry about me. Smaller group shouldn't attract a lot of monsters if we are careful. Isn't that right, Gaston?" Naofumi looks back at the smirking hunter.
"You catch on fast, hero."
"Very well, but please stay away from the abandoned mineshaft. You don't know what monster might lurk in there." The leader of the militia gives Naofumi one final nod, as he begin to guide his group back toward their little village.
Naofumi simply stands rooted into the ground as he looks at the villagers slowly disappears into the thick undergrowth. He finally turns right back at his companions. "Did he just say a mineshaft?"
End Note
I realize the Lute Villager's reaction to Naofumi making the assumption of King of Rape was behind Siltvelt occupying Melromarc could be me taking a Ryan Johnson's 'Your Snork theory sucks' jab at the person who made the same assumption on tvtrope. But that's honestly not my intention. Although I do have a lot of intentional misdirection in this story.
I just feel like it's the most natural response Lute Villagers would have when an outsider makes a wrong assumption on something they been taken granted as common information. Hope whoever wrote that entry in tvtrope does not take offense to that.
To Night:
Really hope you have an actual account, since I don't want to give spoiler to everyone. All I will say for now is as Malty's flashback shown, she wasn't always a monster and she can in fact become very attached to someone else. How her relationship with Naofumi will go... you'll have to keep reading to find out.
;)
